


A Murderer is a Murderer, No Matter How Beloved

by xnemone



Category: Naruto
Genre: Addiction, Akatsuki Uzumaki Naruto, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Murder, Canonical Character Death, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gangs, Humor, Law Enforcement, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Murder, Slow Burn, Weapons, still a better ending than canon, undefined relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-01-29 20:34:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21416266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xnemone/pseuds/xnemone
Summary: On a cool summer night in Chicago, Illinois, two international hitmen began their evening among a sea of corporate overlords and do-gooders with the goal of killing each other. By the time sunlight broke the night, smoke rose high from a warehouse downtown where two bodies lay smoldering in the ashes.Now, allow me to explain: Sasuke, the last remnant of a yakuza clan long dead, is on a quest for revenge. Naruto, a supposed orphan raised by a crime lord and taught to kill, jumps at the chance to free himself from Akatsuki for the small price of helping a fellow hitman gather information. When Sasuke's quest is complete and he's on the run, Naruto takes a risk and lets him in, but a murderer’s past doesn’t always stay buried.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino, Jiraiya & Uzumaki Naruto, Nagato | Pain & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 29
Kudos: 118





	1. Death is the Only God Who Comes When You Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MidnightEssence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightEssence/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Silver](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12220347) by [xnemone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xnemone/pseuds/xnemone). 

> This work is a bit of a style experiment and a rewrite of an older series. I’m hopeful it will seem better and more realistic than the original, [Metal](https://archiveofourown.org/series/834171). Please leave me kudos and comments to let me know what you think.
> 
> To MidnightEssence, who I have gifted this work to: you really seemed to like the original series (god knows why, the writing was HORRIBLE but thank you), so I figured you might be interested in reading the rewrite. Thank you and enjoy.

_Sasuke Uchiha Konoha Charity Gala 3.18.2019_

The message came through over text. Naruto is used to getting high-profile names. They’re usually crooked businessmen or high-level mafia members, but the Uchiha are something unique. They were a former samurai clan turned yakuza who specialize in contract killing. They would take anyone’s life for a price, and they were good enough to get away with it―until about seven years ago.

One of their own turned against them. Itachi, who had joined the Kōanchōsa-chō, the Japanese National Intelligence Agency, and has been tasked with taking out his entire family. They say he killed them all, despite having been next in line for the throne. Although, apparently he let his little brother live.

Naruto deletes the message and tucks the burner phone in his pocket. He glances in the mirror as he straightens his bowtie, checking to make sure the makeup which covers the scars on his cheeks hasn’t rubbed off.

He smiles. As he steps back from the mirror he tucks a pistol into its holster under his jacket, a knife already strapped to his ankle under the cuff of his slacks. He won’t deny he looks good in a suit. Even with the scars covered up, he looks dangerous. The James Bond of the underworld, and tonight he’s going to kill his long-time rival.

Naruto runs a hand through his hair as he steps out into the hotel hallway. He lets the door lock behind him and heads downstairs for the gala.

As he steps into the ballroom, he can’t help but smile. He hasn’t been to a party in ages and there’s nothing to stop him from having some fun on a job.

“Champagne, sir?” a waiter offers, holding a silver platter of sparkling glasses.

“Ah, not for me.” Naruto flashes the man a grin.

The waiter bows politely and moves on. Naruto sighs. A glass of champagne would be nice right about now, but he’s on a job. He has to stay focused.

“You don’t look like the usual type,” a woman’s voice calls.

Naruto glances at the woman approaching him. She’s holding a champagne fluke by its stem, dressed in a red, off-the-shoulder dress with low black heels. Her hair is pink, cut in an asymmetric bob with a red headband. She’s pretty, cool, intelligent and collected, which is exactly what puts Naruto on edge.

“The usual type for what?” he returns, giving her an easy smile.

People usually mistake him for a cute, dumb jock. It’s an easy role for him to play, so he uses it to his advantage. It works most of the time.

“You don’t have the ruthless stare of a big executive, but you’re also not one of those insipid charity types.” The woman tilts her head slightly, obviously trying to seduce him. “What brings you here?”

“Business, I guess.” He looks at the crowd, scanning for a familiar duck-butt hairstyle. “What’s your name?”

“Sakura,” she replies smoothly, moving a little closer to him. “Are you looking for your date?”

Naruto snorts. “No. I heard a friend of mine was going to be here, so I’m keeping an eye out for him.”

“An actual friend, an ex, or a target?”

Naruto turns to her, raising an eyebrow. “Who did you say you were, again?”

She looks down with a smile. “You’re good. I came with Sasuke Uchiha.”

Naruto doesn't allow himself to show any sign of recognition. “Who?”

“Me,” a low voice murmurs in his ear as a knife slips under the back of Naruto’s jacket, threatening to cut his spine.

Naruto’s heart starts to race, his palms sweating. He forces a smile as he asks, “Is that a knife, or are you just happy to see me?”

“Shut up.”

Naruto turns his head slowly. His gaze is met by piercing black eyes, colder than the night and more dangerous than his own. He can see his own murderous reflection caught in Sasuke's gaze. He’s itching to pull his gun, but he knows better. The security guard is already eyeing them.

“Let’s take this somewhere more private,” Sasuke suggests with his hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “Sakura, thank you for your help.”

She bows before she disappears into the crowd. Naruto feels Sasuke begin to steer him out of the hall and decides it safest to obey. Sasuke is the last Uchiha. He’s one of the best hired killers out there, and Naruto’s specialty isn’t close-combat. So he allows Sasuke to pull him into a hallway and press him against the wall, half-obscured by a plant. Sasuke pins his palm against the wall next to Naruto’s ear, the knife now digging into Naruto’s gut.

“You know, knife play isn’t really my thing but if you’re into it…” Naruto starts to joke, still smiling.

“I was asked to kill you.”

He pisses Naruto off.

“I know you were sent to kill me,” Sasuke continues. “At this gala, today.”

Naruto raises his chin. He narrows his eyes and remains silent, his very expression a dare.

“Who hired you?” Sasuke hisses, pressing the knife in a little harder.

Naruto presses himself against the wall to avoid getting cut. “I don’t know. I get all my contracts through tree company I work for.”

“What was the number?”

“17611-796892,” Naruto lists, noticing the flash of recognition in Sasuke’s eyes.

The knife relaxes slightly.

“We were hired by the same person.”

Naruto frowns. He opens his mouth to ask who, or why, but Sasuke cuts him off.

“His name is Orochimaru. He’s a drug lord based in China. Most likely, he wants to hire whichever one of us makes it out alive as a bodyguard.”

“So does that mean we’re going to fight?”

Sasuke shoots him a flat glare. He steps back just far enough to lean against the far wall, arms crossed with the knife still in his hand. “I want to make a proposition.”

Naruto eyes him warily. “No offense, but you’re not really my type.”

“Not that kind of proposition, dobe,” Sasuke retorts, rolling his eyes. “No one tries to toy with me without getting bitten. I want you to help me kill him.”

Naruto raises his eyebrows. Then he starts to laugh. It bubbles out of him, light and musical. He grins as it fades away. “Why should I? If we fake our deaths, I could make a run for it and never see you again.”

“You could,” Sasuke agrees as he bows his head briefly, “but if anyone happens to find out the great Demon Fox is still alive, they might send someone to hire or kill you; either way, your cover would be blown.”

“Are you threatening me?”

Sasuke gives him a sultry look with a sly smile in response.

Naruto snorts. He nods and points out, “He’s going to run if he finds out we’re after him. I’m not sure whether Sakura works for you or someone else, but she knows who we are.”

“That’s why I brought her,” Sasuke claims. He raises an eyebrow. “He won’t run if he thinks we’re dead.”

Naruto makes a face. “I thought the whole point of this plan was _not_ dying.”

Sasuke sighs and rolls his eyes again. “It is, usuratonkachi. We’ll use decoys.”

Naruto scowls. “Wait a second, you’re saying we should fake our deaths?”

“Now you’re getting it,” Sasuke replies with a smirk.

“We’ll have to kill two innocents to make that work.”

“So you’re considering it.”

“Why should I even trust you?” Naruto questions, glaring at him.

“You can’t,” Sasuke admits simply. “Are you in?”

Naruto squints at him. It’s not a bad plan. If it works, they can ditch Chicago and get to China in two days. Assuming they manage to track down and kill Orochimaru, Naruto can finally leave this life behind him. Maybe he could even go to school.

“Alright. Let’s discuss this somewhere private.”

Sasuke hums, smiling ever so slightly. His eyelids fall slightly as he tilts his head, and Naruto feels his body react. He curses himself and turns away.

“Meet me on the roof in twenty minutes,” he snaps, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he sticks his chin up. “I don’t trust you, but I don’t have much to lose.”

“Fine.” Sasuke smirks as he watches Naruto retreat. Then he snorts and heads back to his room as well.

When Naruto returns to his room, he takes a quick, cold shower to clear his head. He half expects Sasuke to be waiting for him as soon as he steps out, but is pleasantly surprised to find himself alone. He gets dressed quickly, putting on the same clothes he wore earlier. He leaves the bow tie behind and catches his reflection in the mirror. His scars are laid bare now. They were a punishment for the first and last time he refused to kill a target.

_Scaredy cat,_ they had been meant to represent, but Naruto was never one to live up to people’s expectations. He turned these scars into the mark of a feral animal, the Demon Fox. They’ve come to mean the exact opposite of what they were cut for, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

When Naruto steps out onto the roof, he breathes in the cool night air with a smile. Sasuke is standing at the edge of the roof with his hands in his pockets, gazing at the city with the wind fluffing his gravity-defying hair.

“Nice night,” Naruto calls, coming to stand beside him at a safe distance. He looks at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye and startles.

Sasuke’s eyes are so very sad.

“I’m tired of this life.”

The admission, so simple and obvious, is spoken as softly as a prayer.

“Yeah,” Naruto replies, following his gaze to the city lights. “Me, too.”

Sasuke hums his assent. Then he turns toward Naruto and all his vulnerabilities disappear in an instant, like they were never even there. “Let’s get down to business.”

“Right.” Naruto notices the way Sasuke’s eyes catch on his scars, but ignores it. “How are we going to get ahold of the bodies?”

“I called in a favor with a mortician a few weeks ago. He’s got a couple of corpses for us that are about our heights and builds. I found a warehouse, too.”

“You planned this even before I said yes, didn’t you?”

“Obviously,” Sasuke retorts calmly. “Once the bodies are staged, we can set off the explosives and make a run for it. I’m assuming you have enough cash for a flight to Beijing?”

Naruto nods.

“Good.” Sasuke begins to walk toward the door. “Go pack your bags and take a taxi to Warehouse 17 on Randolph Street. It would be suspicious if we rode together. Oh, and leave the markings. The taxi driver should be able to recognize you to back up our story.”

“Why, you―”

“Just do what I say, dobe.” Then Sasuke walks through the door and leaves Naruto standing alone on the roof.

“Bastard,” Naruto growls. “You piss me off.”

Then he follows Sasuke through the door and heads back to his room.

~+~+~+~

Forty minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke are standing alone in a warehouse with the corpses already across from each other, one of them stabbed through the heart and the other shot in the lung. Naruto reluctantly leaves one of his guns in the hand of the stabbed body. Sasuke made sure that the knife he used was one of his signature kunai with the Uchiha crest engraved on the blade. Then Sasuke sets the timers on the explosives and they make a run for it.

They almost make it to the main avenue before an explosive boom shatters the night. Flames arc high into the dark sky, smoke blocking out the stars. Naruto and Sasuke stop in an alleyway to catch their breath.

“We did it!” Naruto laughs, pumping his fist.

“Now we just have to kill Orochimaru,” Sasuke pants, smiling at him through the darkness.

“We can do it, dattebayo.”

“What did you just say?” Sasuke asks, furrowing his brow.

“Hm?” Naruto looks at him, blinking owlishly. “Oh, it’s, uh… a verbal tic.” He rubs the back of his neck and grins. “I don’t know how I picked it up. I guess I’ve always said it.”

They gaze at each other in the moonlight for a long, quiet moment. For a second, their eyes soften and they share a moment of kinship, and something unnamable.

Then their walls are back up, and they look away.

“The sooner we catch our flight, the better,” Naruto tells him.

“We have to take the subway,” Sasuke replies, glancing toward the street. “It would be too suspicious if the car I rented got returned. Plus, I left the keys on the body.”

Naruto resists the urge to strangle him.

~+~+~+~

A back-alley wardrobe change and a metro trip later, the duo walk into O’Hare and buy two tickets for the next flight to Beijing in solid cash. They check their suitcases with a frazzled, exhausted clerk who informs them their flight leaves in four hours. The TSA agent eyes them carefully as they check the false passports, but eventually lets them pass.

Naruto and Sasuke exhale in relief once they make it to the gate.

“I’m gonna grab some coffee,” Naruto says, “you want anything?”

“Black cold brew. Drip, if possible.”

Naruto glares, muttering something about rich bastards as he walks away. Sasuke looks up at the TV, only slightly surprised to find helicopter footage from the smoldering warehouse on display. The reporter doesn’t seem to know anything important yet.

“Oi, teme.”

Naruto’s voice distracts Sasuke away from the TV and he startles.

“Did you just speak Japanese?”

“Yeah, so what?” Naruto hands him his coffee and sits down in the chair next to him, setting his backpack by his feet. He looks at the screen and smiles. “So, they still haven’t figured it out?”

“Apparently.” Sasuke takes a sip of his coffee and grimaces slightly. “What is this? Did you buy me dishwater?”

“You asked for drip coffee, and I wasted most of my cash on this flight. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to go buy your own.”

Sasuke hums and takes another sip.

“You know…” Naruto looks at him, eyebrows raised and his fingers wrapped around the coffee cup in his hands. “We make a pretty good team.”

“I wouldn’t say that until we’ve finished the job, dobe,” Sasuke murmurs, carefully glancing around through his sunglasses. “Now shut up.”

“Right, right… Sorry, I’m just a little, you know…”

Sasuke turns toward him very slowly. He starts to notice Naruto’s dilated pupils, his bouncing leg, and his smile.

“Are you high?”

“What?” Naruto sniffs and rubs his index finger against his nose, glancing down at it briefly as he pulls it away. “No.”

“What did you take?”

“Nothing,” Naruto defends, fiddling with the top of his coffee cup.

He looks down and bites his lip, clearly lying.

“Naruto, we’re on a _job_,” Sasuke hisses in response. “I can’t believe you.”

“I have more if you―”

“No thanks,” Sasuke retorts, rolling his eyes. “I prefer other vices.”

“Oh, yeah?” Naruto lowers his eyelids and asks, “What kind?”

“I _might_ consider telling you when we’re finally in the clear.”

Naruto beams. “Okay!”

_“It seems the fire has gone down and police have arrived on the scene,”_ a reporter announces. Her expression is grim as she continues, _“Two bodies have been discovered inside. The authorities have yet to release an official statement, but we expect more information soon. Now, back to John for the weather.”_

“Wow,” Naruto murmurs, staring at the screen. “We really did it.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and hopes they make it out of the country before their faces get plastered on the news.

They have to act fast if they want to catch Orochimaru before he leaves Beijing. He moves often, and they can’t afford to take their time. If anyone hears they’re still alive, if they even wait the amount of time they usually would to plan, everything Sasuke has worked toward since he got this job a few months ago could be ruined.

Their best chance to kill him will be on his way out of a nightclub. Naruto’s talent with guns will be the most useful for a long or mid-range shot, and Sasuke can usually handle close combat. However, they can’t afford to operate as they usually would. Naruto will need a new gun when they land. He should use a handgun and Sasuke could trade his usual swords for something like a switchblade so they can make it look like a mugging. Nobody’s going to link the murder of a rich drug lord on two of the world’s best if it looks like he was killed by an amateur.

“Sasuke.” Naruto’s tone is completely sober, enough so to make Sasuke snap his head up. Naruto’s eyes are fixed on the ground, but he continues in a low voice. “Don’t look now, but there are two federal agents standing about twenty yards behind us.”

Sasuke glances out of the corner of his eye and quickly bows his head. It’s Sakura and a man with a tired expression, white hair, and a scar over his eye who is wearing a face mask.

“Shit,” Sasuke swears under his breath.

“I don’t think they’ve seen us yet,” Naruto whispers, unlocking his phone to casually scroll through Instagram. “Act casual.”

Sasuke pulls a book from his backpack and cracks it open to the last page he was on. His eyes focus on the page, but he ends up skimming the first paragraph about four times before he gives up and just stares at the chapter title.

However, much to their relief, the agents remain absorbed in conversation between themselves and keep walking.

"It doesn't add up!" Sakura exclaims. "There's something we're missing, Kakashi."

"We can't do anything about it without our superiors' permission," he reminds get calmly. "For now, let's head home. You've done a good job."

Naruto exhales a sigh of relief and Sasuke lets his eyes close briefly.

“They must be flying back to headquarters,” Naruto suggests. “Now that their targets are dead, they’ve got nothing to do here, dattebayo.”

“Don’t let your guard down,” Sasuke warns, shooting him a glare. “They could still be after us.”

_“This just in―the bodies of two men found inside the warehouse explosion from earlier tonight have been identified by FBI Special Agent Sakura Haruno as two international hitmen she and her partner had been trailing.”_ The reporter looks at the camera seriously as she continues to say, _“The assassins’ names have yet to be released, but one thing is certain: these killers will never kill again.”_

The two of them sit staring at the television in awed silence, too smart to say anything that might be overheard. The plan was a success. One more job, and they could be free. One more kill, and they could have the lives they’ve always wanted.

It’s a sobering thought.


	2. We All Have Our Reasons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm busy as fuck and have a college app due tonight but that can wait, here's chapter two.

When their plane touches down in Beijing, Sasuke quickly retrieves his bags while Naruto grabs them a taxi. Naruto gives the driver an address and and tips him well before they get out.

Sasuke looks up at the hotel with disdain. “Why do we have to stay here again?”

“Because, teme, nobody’s going to look for us at a love hotel, and they specialize in secrecy. Now come on.”

“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke sighs, but he follows Naruto into the lobby anyway.

They end up in a Japanese-style room, because Naruto insists and Sasuke is too tired to argue. As soon as the door closes behind them, Sasuke lays his suitcase on the floor and kneels to open it. Naruto whistles from behind him, gazing at the array of knives and swords packed carefully between the foam.

“So those are the famous Uchiha blades, huh?”

“Shut up,” Sasuke retorts calmly. He picks out one little hunting knife and flips the blade out to inspect it. He scrapes it against his thumb carefully with a hum. “This will do. Naruto, do you have a handgun?”

“What? No, teme. What kind of hitman would I be if I travelled with my guns?”

“Here.”

Naruto blinks at the pistol Sasuke is offering him. Hesitant, he accepts it. He turns it over in his hands, looking at it carefully. “Why do you have this? I thought you only use blades.”

“I do,” Sasuke replies, closing his suitcase calmly. He stands and turns around to face Naruto. “We have a very short window of time to track down and kill Orochimaru. Our best chance to kill him will be a fake mugging.”

“Right,” Naruto agrees, checking the magazine. There are five bullets. “What do we do afterward?”

“Leave China and hide.” Sasuke walks over to the desk and pulls out his phone. “I’m going to call one of my contacts to find out exactly where our target is. Go do whatever you usually do before a job.”

Naruto huffs. “Usually, I find a place to do some target practice, but China has a ban on guns, asshole.”

“Sai,” Sasuke says into his phone, turning away from Naruto. “Yes, I know. I need to call in that favor. What do you know about Orochimaru?”

Naruto pouts. He checks the safety before he sets the gun on the edge of the bed. Then he looks at the bath. He turns on the tap and doesn’t notice the alarmed glance Sasuke sends his way as he unbuttons his shirt. They’ve had one hell of a day, and his clothes smell like sweat and gunpowder. If the bastard thinks he’s going to pass up the chance for a nice relaxing bath just because he’s still in the room, he’s got a thing or two to learn.

As Naruto strips off the rest of his clothes and sinks into the water, he begins to reconsider why he agreed to help Sasuke with this part of the plan. They faked their deaths. He could fly back to America and start a new life in Los Angeles, maybe New York City. He doesn’t have to hurt anyone ever again. Even if Sasuke tells someone he’s still alive, he wouldn’t have to accept the job.

“Oi, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sasuke asks, having finished his call. He stands over the tub with his arms crossed, frowning as he desperately tries not to look away from Naruto’s face.

“You’re welcome to join me,” Naruto suggests, leaning his head back with his eyes open just enough to make sure Sasuke doesn’t slit his throat. “The water’s nice.”

Sasuke scowls and turns his back to Naruto. “I don’t need your help, you know.”

“No,” Naruto agrees easily. “So why did you ask for it?”

Sasuke stiffens.

“You planned everything yourself. This last part is a one-man job anyway.” Naruto sinks further into the water with a soft sigh. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you wanted the pleasure of my company.”

“Don’t get a big head, usuratonkachi!” Then Sasuke sighs and kneels at the edge of the tub, resting his forearms on his knees. “I just wanted another professional on the job.”

“Is this Orochimaru guy really that dangerous?”

“He’s not the one I’m worried about,” Sasuke breathes, staring at the door.

Orochimaru is his brother’s most valuable informant. At best, Sasuke hopes to drag something useful out of him before they kill him. Of course, Itachi will have his suspicions when Orochimaru turns up dead, but Sasuke already knows his brother wants to fight him. If this isn’t enough to lure him out, it will be enough to warn him.

Sasuke remembers that cold night all too well. The moon shone high and bright, a silent observer as the raid happened. Itachi had been working for the police as a spy for the Uchiha―or so everyone thought. Sasuke had awoken to an uproar. Cries of “traitor!” and “cops!” echoed throughout the compound before his family’s screams ripped through the night. His heart hammered in his chest as he hid inside a closet, waiting for it all to stop. He watched his own brother slaughter their parents through a crack, and met Itachi’s cold eyes with his own hand clamped over his mouth. Itachi had pressed a finger to his lips before he disappeared in the night. The white letters printed on the back of his bulletproof vest became engraved in Sasuke’s memory, the only clear sight on a night otherwise blurred by blood and tears.

“Sasuke…” Naruto speaks softly as he puts a hand on Sasuke’s heaving shoulder.

Sasuke flinches. He stands up suddenly and crosses the room. He grabs the back of the chair next to the desk and stares at his reflection in the mirror above.

Naruto watches him. There’s something Sasuke isn’t telling him, and he needs to know. For the sake of the job, if nothing else.

“Look, Naruto,” Sasuke tells him through gritted teeth, “Orochimaru is one of the Crow’s informants.”

“What?!” Naruto blinks, wide-eyed in alarm. The Crow is a nameless government assassin, supposedly the best in the field. “If we kill him, then… Then the Crow might come after us.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Naruto shakes his head. “You’re insane. There’s no way I’m going to risk my life for your grudge. I’m out.”

“He killed my family!” Sasuke slams his fist against the desk and bows his head. His voice is much softer when he speaks again, his hair falling in his eyes. “He’s my brother, and I watched him slaughter our parents in cold blood.”

Naruto gazes at this broken man, a genius tactician feared on every continent, and feels his heart ache for the pain he’s endured. He lets his gaze fall back to the water in front of him and admits something he’s never even said aloud. “My parents abandoned me.”

Sasuke looks up at him, surprised.

“So I can’t pretend to imagine how it must feel to lose everyone you’ve ever loved,” Naruto continues quietly, “and I guess I owe you for… well, for not saving my life. Tell me what I can do.”

Sasuke sits down with a smile. He chuckles, which quickly turns into a laugh as he throws his head back.

Naruto stares at him, suddenly alarmed. “Wh-What is it?”

Sasuke shakes his head, still smiling. “I didn’t expect you to stick around.” He looks up and meets Naruto’s eyes, even as he wipes tears from the corners of his. “Thanks.”

Before Naruto can reply, Sasuke’s phone buzzes twice.

He picks it up and his smile vanishes like it was never there. “It’s Sai. We’ve got a location.”

“Ah, is that so?” Naruto chuckles sheepishly and asks, “Would you hand me a towel?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and obeys.

~+~+~+~

Orochimaru is at a nightclub downtown, guarded by two muscle-heads with pistols tucked in their waistbands. Sasuke’s plan is for Naruto to infiltrate the club and keep an eye on the target. Once Orochimaru leaves, he’s supposed to text Sasuke the exit and pray Orochimaru goes out the side one.

However, Naruto’s plan is a bit different.

Dressed in a studded leather jacket with a mesh crop top and orange cargo pants with elastic cuffs, Naruto adds a dangling gold earring and glittering golden-orange eyeshadow to complete his look. With a pair of black heels, he steps into the hall where Sasuke is waiting in a comfortable black turtleneck and skinny jeans with converse. Naruto watches Sasuke’s eyebrows raise at his outfit.

“What?” Naruto taunts, grinning. “Too much for you?”

“It’s not… what I was expecting.” Sasuke looks away as a faint blush brings some color to his cheeks and he says, “Let’s go.”

Naruto’s fox-grin widens as he follows, the gun tucked safely into one of his pockets.

They can walk to the club, and to save money they do. Sasuke goes down the side alley after he slips Naruto a wad of cash to get in, and makes him promise not to do anything stupid. Finally, Sasuke disappears around the corner and Naruto saunters up to the bodyguards. He flashes them his trademark grin and splits half the cash again, which he offers to each of them.

“Hāi, xiānshēngmen,” Naruto greets in carefully practiced Mandarin. “Will you let me in?”

The guards glance at each other before they each take some cash and nod him through. Naruto gives them a wink and struts into the nightclub. As soon as he’s inside, he starts to look around for his target. An androgynous person in their thirties with long, straight hair and pale skin, a long face, and a flat chest; usually seen wearing white robes with purple accessories.

Naruto spies Orochimaru lounging in one of the booths, watching the crowd sway along to the bright blue spotlights and electronic dance music. Before going over though, Naruto heads to the bar. Naruto considers it best to watch his prey from afar before going in for the kill; a rule to be followed both in love and in war.

While Sasuke waits by the back entrance, he pulls a box of cigarettes out of his pocket. As soon as he saw Naruto dressed in that god-awful outfit, he knew this job won’t go exactly as he planned. He may not know just what Naruto is going to do yet, but he has an idea; and it’s not a good one.

As long as Sasuke gets a chance to question Orochimaru before they kill him, he’ll be happy. That’s all he needs.

So, he takes a long drag off his cigarette and waits.

The sound of deep laughter and low voices draw his attention to a group of men walking toward him from the other end of the alley. He blends into the shadows well, but these guys look like gangsters. They’re on the lookout for trouble, and he can’t afford any interference.

Unfortunately, it seems the men have noticed him.

“Hm? What’s this?” the biggest guy asks in Mandarin, leaning into Sasuke’s personal space. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?”

Sasuke exhales a cloud of smoke into his face, fixing him in a cold stare as he responds in perfect Chinese. “I’m waiting for someone. Get lost.”

“Why, you―!”

Just as Sasuke’s fingers reach for his knife, the sound of a metal door opening makes everyone pause. Sasuke doesn’t take his eyes off the man in front of him until he recognizes the gravelly low voice of their intruder.

“What’s going on here, gentlemen?”

Sasuke’s eyes widen. The gangsters panic and make a run for it, so Sasuke looks over at Orochimaru, perched on the railing of the steps leading down from the door with Naruto hanging off his arm.

“I hope they didn’t cause you any trouble,” Orochimaru calls down to Sasuke, smiling like a snake.

“I’m fine,” he responds carefully, sparing a glance at Naruto.

Naruto winks.

Sasuke tosses his cigarette on the ground and stomps it under his foot. “I want to ask you something, Orochimaru.”

He raises a delicate eyebrow, raising an old opium pipe to his lips. “I suppose this is about your brother, hm?” He turns to Naruto and flashes a sweet smile. “I recognized you the moment you walked in, Demon Fox. Although, I must admit…” he looks back at Sasuke carefully, his expression filled with lust. “I didn’t expect you two to be working together.”

Naruto puts the barrel of his gun against Orochimaru’s temple. “Answer honestly,” he murmurs, “and we just might let you live.”

Orochimaru takes a drag from his pipe and blows out the smoke slowly. “Itachi Uchiha has infiltrated Akatsuki as a double agent. He’s partnered with Kisame, the Shark. I believe they were last on the hunt for your bounty, Naruto. Now that you two are supposedly dead, who knows where they’ll be?”

Sasuke blinks. This was too easy. “My brother knew I was coming,” he realizes softly. “He asked you to tell me that.”

Orochimaru chuckles, gazing at Sasuke fondly. “Kill me if you have to, but then I won’t be able to keep you informed. I have quite a network of connections, Sasuke. I could be useful to you.”

Naruto looks at Sasuke calmly, waiting for orders. After a long moment, Sasuke dismisses him with a wave and a sigh. Naruto puts his pistol on safety and tucks it into his waistband.

“Go,” Sasuke demands, staring into the darkness.

Orochimaru smiles and wanders back into the club. Naruto comes down the stairs to stand by Sasuke.

“Thank you,” Sasuke tells him softly.

Naruto startles. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to drag you into my grudge any more than I have. Thanks for helping me get this far, but this last part I have to do on my own.”

“Sasuke…”

“You’re free, right?” Sasuke reminds him. “Go. Make good use of it. I’ll go to school and study law while I try to hunt my brother down.”

Naruto stares at him. Then he grits his teeth, clenching his fists at his sides. “Teme… You make me come all this way just to finish it on your own?! At least let me see it through!”

“Naruto.” Sasuke looks him in the eye, deadly calm and somewhat tragic. “I have to do this alone.”

Naruto glares at him for a moment before he gives in with a sigh. “Fine. Just call me when you get yourself in trouble, alright?” He shoves his hands in his pockets and turns away, scowling.

Sasuke smiles until Naruto steps onto the main street. Then he turns away and heads back toward their hotel.


	3. Honor Among Thieves

Naruto is in a cold, dark room. Four twin beds line the walls, and red moonlight pours through the high, painted glass windows above the old church turned dormitory. His vision is fading in and out of focus, his breathing shallow. He looks down at the weight in his child hands to find a smoking revolver, glittering in the light. He looks up at the only other person in the room, and his eyes widen.

The only father he’s ever known collapses against one of the beds as blood bubbles up from a hole in his chest. He touches the wound and pulls his fingers away, red. Then he looks at Naruto and smiles through bloodstained teeth.

“Nice shot,” Jiraiya tells him calmly, “Demon Fox.”

Naruto feels his tears fall hot and wet. He can hear someone calling his name and turns. Three other kids are staring at him from the doorway, wide-eyed and terrified. Naruto opens his mouth, but finds himself too choked up to speak.

“Naruto!”

He jolts awake. His cheeks are wet, and he realizes he’s been crying. His roommate, Kiba, is standing over him with a concerned expression. Naruto must have woken him up again.

“Sorry,” Naruto tells him, sitting up and averting his gaze as he wipes his eyes.

“Are you ever going to tell me what your nightmares are about?” Kiba asks, raising an eyebrow at him.

Naruto flashes him an apologetic smile without an answer.

“Well, whatever,” Kiba sighs, putting his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. “It’s almost eight, so we might as well get up.”

“Right,” Naruto sighs.

He combs his fingers through his hair. Kiba pulls jeans and a hoodie out of his side of the closet and starts to get dressed. Naruto picks up his phone with its ramen case and checks the messages. Still not a word from Sasuke. He supposes he should give up―after all, it’s been four years―but he just can’t let go.

Wordlessly, Naruto slips out of bed and gets dressed. He pockets his phone and wallet, has a cup of coffee, and walks to class with Kiba.

He sits through his first two lectures and meets up with his friends at their usual lunch spot, a conglomeration of tables and chairs in Hoya Court.

“Naruto, what do you think the average income of a hitman is?”

Ino’s question catches him off-guard, and he nearly drops his cup ramen. One glance at his friend’s expression shows him this is just an innocent question, and he smiles as he takes his seat.

“I dunno. Probably depends on how many jobs they get,” he tells them calmly around a mouthful of noodles. “Why?”

“I’m trying to convince Shikamaru that they make more money than strippers,” she responds, giving her best friend a look.

“Like I said, strippers have a constant stream of income, so they’re probably richer,” Shikamaru defends with a shrug. “Back me up here, Naruto.”

Naruto grins. “I wouldn’t know much about either, but I’m with Shikamaru on this.”

The group erupts into complaints and sounds of assent before devolving into a full-on debate.

Naruto listens to it with a smile and chips in occasionally, refraining from adding any information that could give him away. After Ino and Neji go off to their art history course, Naruto’s phone starts to ring. He doesn’t recognize the number.

His heart flutters for just a moment, because the only unknown calls he’s ever gotten were prospective employers and contact from his old life. But he’s been living a quiet life for years; it’s probably just a spam call.

“Hello?” Naruto answers, cautious.

“Naruto?” a deep familiar voice asks.

There’s a touch of uncertainty to it.

Naruto’s expression shifts. “Sasuke?” he breathes, disbelieving. He doesn’t even notice his friends go quiet over the sound of his own heartbeat. “How did you get this number? Are you okay?”

“The Crow is dead.”

“Did you…?”

“Hn. Sakura recognized my weapon. She’s after me again, and… I could use your help. You offered once, but I know you moved on from this life so if you can’t—”

“Damn it, teme,” Naruto hisses, scowling. He switches into Japanese as he says, “Where are you right now?”

“Georgetown.”

Naruto sighs and drags his hand over his face.

Still in Japanese, he asks, “How did you find me?”

“You have an Instagram profile, dobe. Stop tagging your location. And why is your password ‘DemonFox66’?”

Naruto scowls. “Shut up, teme!” He lowers his voice and continues in English, “The offer still stands. You can stay with me while you get back on your feet.”

“Oi, Naruto!” Kiba exclaims.

Naruto silences him with a wave. “As long as you’re willing to put up with my roommate’s snoring, it’ll be safer than a hotel.” He adds in Japanese, “I’m only offering because I owe you.”

“I thought you already repaid your debt,” Sasuke replies.

“Like helping you on a case was enough to pay you back for what you did for me,” Naruto retorts softly in English. “Just stay with me for a while.”

Sasuke is quiet for a moment. Then he says, “Thank you. Send me the address.”

“No.” Naruto narrows his eyes, feeling the rush of adrenaline that used to be so familiar to him. “Come to the Georgetown University Hoya Court.”

“Still don’t trust me?”

Naruto snorts. “You’re still a bastard, dattebayo.”

“Alright,” Sasuke agrees, a smile in his tone. “...Thanks.”

The line drops. Naruto looks at the number for a moment and decides not to save it―Sasuke should have either used a burner or a payphone, so there's no point. When he lifts his head, he finds his friends staring at him.

“What?”

“Who was that?” Lee asks, blinking owlishly.

“You speak Japanese?” Shikamaru notices, surprised.

Naruto remembers, belatedly, that Shikamaru also speaks Japanese.

“And why did you invite him to stay with us?!” Kiba exclaims, scowling.

“Sorry, Kiba,” Naruto replies with a smile, slipping his phone into his back pocket. “I owe him big time.”

“For what?” Hinata asks, looking concerned.

“Ah, well, he saved my life,” Naruto admits. He scratches the back of his neck and smiles at the memory of that trip. It all happened so fast he barely knew what was going on in the moment, but he still has the gun Sasuke gave him.

“So, you’re friends?” Shikamaru cuts in, looking at Naruto calmly.

Naruto chuckles. “I think you’ll have to ask him.”

“Jeeze, we were so close to learning more about your mysterious background,” Tenten sighs, leaning back in her chair. “Why won’t you tell us anything?”

Naruto flashes her his famous fox grin and says, “There are some things you don’t want to know.”

“Well, at least we ruled out assassin and stripper earlier,” Kiba sighs.

Naruto gawks at him, feigning ignorance. “You were testing me?!”

His friends all give various admissions. Naruto gasps in mock offense.

“Relax, we still have no idea,” Tenten assures him, leaning on the edge of the table. “Our best guesses are down to bounty hunter, zookeeper, and circus freak.”

Naruto chuckles. “Has it ever occurred to you I might have been just a normal high school student, dattebayo?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

They all shake their heads and disagree. He pouts. Not petulantly, because he’s not a child, but close, because he’s a former hitman with a cover to maintain. Just as he opens his mouth to change the subject, he feels the tickle of proximity right before something sharp scratches his neck lightly.

“Miss me?” Sasuke whispers in his ear.

“Sasuke,” he growls, tilting his chin away from whatever it is Sasuke’s holding against his neck.

Sasuke lets his hand drop onto Naruto’s shoulder as he leans over his other with a sultry smile. Naruto finds his breath caught in his throat and barely realizes Sasuke must have been holding his nails against his neck, not a knife. Sasuke’s stare is as intense as ever, but it doesn’t look like he’s slept in days. His only visible eye is bloodshot and shadowed. His hair no longer sticks up and his bangs fall over his left eye. He looks gaunt.

“Fuck, what the hell happened to you?” Naruto whispers with a frown, reaching out to touch his jaw lightly.

Sasuke pulls away quickly and his expression quickly turns guarded.

Naruto bites his lip as he remembers. After everything that’s happened, of course he’s shaken up. “Sorry. Stupid question.”

“Yes, it was,” Sasuke retorts, glaring at him. “At least you haven’t changed, dobe.”

“Hah?!”

“Hm.” Sasuke tilts his head back, smirking. “You’re out of practice. I doubt you could land a scratch on me, let alone a hit.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Naruto purrs, standing up with his fox-grin. “Bring it on, teme.”

“Naruto, what the hell?!”

It’s only then Naruto remembers they’re not alone. He looks around at his friends and classmates and chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. He sits down again and grabs Sasuke’s wrist to drag him into another seat.

“Ow, hey!”

“Shut up, teme,” Naruto hisses, “you don’t want to cause a scene, right?” He gives Sasuke a meaningful stare.

Sasuke crosses his arms and looks away with his version of a scowl: narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow.

Naruto turns back to his friends. “Sorry, he’s a little…” He holds up his hand and wobbles it with a grimace.

“I’m a little what, usuratonkachi?” Sasuke fixes Naruto in a deadly glare.

Naruto jumps and stutters to come up with a suitable response. His friends watch the exchange carefully―especially Shikamaru. Something is off. Naruto is too casual around him, and with the way he responded to Sasuke’s greeting, it looks like they used to be together. But they’re quick to insult each other and almost got into a fight, which means that probably isn’t it. They do seem to be attracted to each other though. So why hasn’t playboy Naruto, who’s gone through more breakups in three years than the number of season on The Bachelor, made a move?

Then again, Shikamaru has never seen him date someone longer than three months.

“Hey, Kiba,” he calls lowly, still watching the two of them banter.

“Hm?”

“Do you see it?” Shikamaru asks, nodding to them with Naruto’s hot-headed exclamations and Sasuke’s cool retorts.

Kiba looks at them for a moment before he breaks into a grin. “Oh, yeah. Naruto’s totally into him.”

“Do you want to help them get together?”

“Let’s get our homeboy laid,” Kiba replies, grinning.

~+~+~+~

When Sasuke follows Naruto into a small apartment decorated in black, dark blue, orange, and white, he gives Naruto a, “You live like this?” stare, and slips his shoes off in the hallway. Then he walks into the apartment and immediately throws open the shades.

“I can’t believe I left Tokyo for this.”

“Be grateful,” Naruto retorts, grabbing a soda from the fridge. “You’re safer here.”

“Are you sure?” Sasuke inquires, eyeing the thrift store sofa with wariness.

Naruto rolls his eyes, leaning against the counter. “If you hate it that much, buy us a new one.”

“Why don’t you have the money?” Sasuke asks, eyeing the rest of the apartment with his arms crossed.

“College and rent are expensive, dattebayo! All my savings are getting burned up and I still have to work during the summers.”

Sasuke shoots him a look.

“Not that kind of work,” Naruto sighs, taking a seat on one of the bar stools. “You know I gave that up after we met.” He takes a sip of his soda. Then he looks at Sasuke and smiles. “You seem like you’ve been doing well. I bet inheriting the fortune you did gave you plenty of money.”

“Yeah,” Sasuke admits, looking down as his expression turns sad.

Naruto watches him for a moment. He has another class in about an hour, but for now he can keep an eye on his new guest.

Sasuke takes a seat on the sofa and bows his head. Softly, he admits, “A job has never hurt this much.”

Naruto sighs and comes over to sit by him. Naruto looks at the can of soda in his hands and says, “You’ve never done one this personal before.”

“And you have?”

Naruto shoots him a glare, but otherwise ignores his comment. “I used to think about what would happen if you ever took me up on that offer.”

Sasuke looks at him out of the corner of his eye.

Naruto leans back into the sofa and stares at the ceiling and tells him, “I never imagined it would be like this, dattebayo.”

“What’s with you and that phrase?” Sasuke asks, watching him.

Naruto raises his eyebrows and glances over. He grins. “What, ‘dattebayo’? I guess it’s a verbal tic. I used to turn it off on jobs, but since I’ve been out of the field so long, it came back.”

For a long moment, they simply gaze at each other.

Despite dying together and everything that followed, Sasuke still knows very little about the world-renowned Demon Fox. Rumored to be responsible for an unmentionable number of kills, few know his real name. Even the assumption that it really is Naruto, after the little narutomaki in ramen, seems absurd. They say he started when he was just a child, trained by the legendary black-market agent Jiraiya right alongside the trio who founded and then split from Akatsuki. Even after four years clean, he still looks dangerous.

Naruto knows Sasuke is the last living member of the Uchiha-gumi now. He knows Sasuke was trained in swordsmanship and martial arts from a young age, that he probably took his first life around the same age as Naruto did. When they met, Sasuke looked sharp and dangerous. Now, there’s a cloud over his eyes that’s not like Neji or Hinata’s blindness. He looks thin and hungry and tired; considering the fact that he just killed his brother, who slaughtered their clan and family before his little brother’s eyes, it makes perfect sense.

“As long as it hurts, we’re still human, dattebayo.”

Sasuke snorts a laugh and hangs his head. His shoulders start shaking and at first Naruto thinks he’s crying, until Sasuke leans back with a smile and lets the sound of his laughter bubble up. Naruto stares at him with one hand inching toward the kitchen drawer where they keep their knives, alarmed.

“Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke calls him, tilting his head. “You’re the first person in years who can read me like that.”

“Really?” Naruto blinks, surprised. Then he looks away with a nervous chuckle and scratches the back of his neck. “Well, that’s what friends are for, right?”

“Friends?” Sasuke asks. “Is that what we are?”

Naruto meets his gaze again and smiles, letting his hand fall into his lap. “Yeah,” he replies cheerfully. “I’m your friend, bastard.”

“Hn. Strange.” Sasuke inspects his nails casually, leaning into the couch as he crosses his ankle over his knee. “I thought friends were supposed to know each other.”

Naruto tenses. He checks his watch without really looking at the hands and stammers, “Eh, you know, I have to go to class, dattebayo! Let’s talk later, okay?” He leaves his soda on the counter and hurries out, calling over his shoulder, “Get some rest! You look like shit!”

Sasuke flips him off until the door slams shut. Then he gets up and heads into Naruto’s room.

There are two beds with matching desks. The desk on the left is overflowing with plants, ramen cups stacked on each other until they’re falling over, and messy stacks of paper. Sasuke notices one of the desk’s lower drawers has a lock on it, but decides not to bother with it. The bed next to that desk is unmade with plain white sheets. There are no posters above it, and the only personal item Sasuke sees on this side of the room are a frog alarm clock and a framed photograph of a man and four children. He picks it up carefully to inspect it.

The old man in the background has a mane of spiky white hair and is wearing green robes, as if from a dojo. His students, as Sasuke assumes they must be, are dressed in white karate uniforms. The one on the far left is the youngest in the photo, at least a few years younger than the teenagers beside him. He has Naruto’s blond hair and a blinding smile; it’s Naruto’s fox-grin, but younger, more innocent. The boy beside him has orange hair and piercings, and the one beside him has red hair. His eyes are obscured by the shadow of his hair, and he’s not smiling. The girl on the far right has a smile to rival the sweetness of Naruto’s, though there’s a sadness to it.

They must be the founders of Akatsuki, and the man behind all of them must be… Jiraiya.

The rumors are true. 

Sasuke sets the photograph down carefully. Then he continues snooping around the room. He finds a german high-powered rifle packed in a guitar case beneath Naruto’s bed, and a horrible collection of clothing in his closet. Sasuke only spares a glance at the bed and desk on the right, with photos of Naruto’s roommate posing with dogs and a woman who must be his mom. His bed is also unmade, and his sheets are black instead.

Sasuke walks back into the living room and opens his suitcase. His knives are strapped against the top, but the one he takes out is a wakizashi, carved with the Uchiha crest. The handle is worn down but still in good condition, and the collar has a pattern of snakes within it. He draws the blade carefully and listens to the sound of metal against the wooden scabbard. Finally, the blade is free, and he looks at the traces of his brother’s blood along the edge. He always cleans his blades after a kill, but this time was an exception. He wasn’t in a state to take care of it, and looking at the sword brings back that flood of emotion.

He puts the sword away quickly and pulls a fresh outfit from his suitcase instead. Then, he goes to the bathroom for a nice, hot shower. Naruto was right; he needs to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are being rude. Is this story really that bad? 5 kudos for 90 hits? Really?? I haven't gotten ratings that bad since 2017.


	4. God Knows We’ve Seen Enough Sacrificial Lambs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe Studio Pierrot killed the Naruto fandom.

Naruto can't focus. He keeps tapping his pen and bouncing his leg. Having Sasuke around is a big risk, and not just because Sakura’s on the hunt again. It's only a matter of time before she realizes Naruto is alive too, and when she does, she'll be able to track them down easily.

Halfway through class Naruto takes out his phone to delete all his social media accounts. They were a risk to begin with, even as a dead man.

When the professor finally releases them, Naruto grabs his bag and all but runs out the door. He heads straight home, the worst-case scenarios already circulating in his mind: Sasuke holding Kiba at knifepoint, police and FBI swarming the apartment, corpses. Naruto's seen enough bloodshed, and far too much was at his hand.

He comes home with Sasuke nowhere to be found. He turns to Kiba, who is standing in the kitchen with a mug of coffee, with a look of panic.

Kiba cuts him off before he speaks. “He's in your bed.” He nods toward their room with a cheeky expression and adds, “He must have been exhausted to not mind your reek.”

“Crap, I forgot to tell him the couch is a pullout,” Naruto curses under his breath. He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “Where's his bag?”

“In the closet,” Kiba replies with a shrug.

Naruto nods and looks around, trying to figure out what Sasuke did while he was gone.

“Hey, you okay?” Kiba asks, frowning. “You seem a little…”

“I'm fine,” Naruto replies quickly, “I just haven't seen him in a long time, dattebayo. I wasn't expecting it, not like this. I guess that's how it always is with him.”

“What does that mean?” Kiba sits down on the sofa and looks at Naruto, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Nothing,” Naruto sighs. He looks for the soda can he left on the counter and smiles when he realizes it's gone.

Kiba doesn't clean up after him.

Naruto joins Kiba on the couch and picks up a game controller as Kiba turns on the TV to resume their game.

Just when they are about to beat the boss, Naruto hears their bedroom door opens and tears his attention away from the screen for what is meant to be half a second. But Sasuke walks across their apartment in nothing but a pair of low-riding sweatpants, with yakuza tattoos painted across his back and shoulders. It's a picture of a giant snake, with sharp fangs dripping with poison, weaving between the branches of a cherry blossom tree as a hawk sits on top, its wings spread wide.

Kiba swears. Naruto turns back to the screen quickly, but it's too late; the boss killed them.

“Naruto, what the hell?! That was the closest we ever got!”

“S-sorry!” he replies nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

“Hn. Dobe.”

“You shut up!” Naruto snaps, whirling around to point a finger at him with a scowl. “You never told me you’re yakuza, bastard!”

Sasuke arches an eyebrow and crosses his arms. “Yes I did. And I'm not, anymore.”

“You're yakuza?!” Kiba exclaims, incredulous.

Sasuke rolls his eyes. “Former yakuza, but yes. I suppose it doesn't make a difference.”

He doesn't mention that he did so because of his family legacy, or how he used them to set himself apart from his brother. How he decided to claim the title of The Last Uchiha in the hopes of rebuilding his clan, and ended up just painting a target on his back.

“Damn it, Sasuke,” Naruto growls.

Sasuke looks at him carefully. Kiba clearly doesn't know what Naruto used to be, but Sasuke can't tell if his anger is real or if that's part of his act.

“I still hardly know anything about you,” Sasuke comments, coming over to perch on one of the bar stools, his elbow rested delicately on the counter to lean back on. “Considering how I saved your life in Chicago, I deserve to at least know your real name.”

Naruto narrows his eyes. Kiba asks what Sasuke's talking about, but both of them ignore him.

After a long staring contest, Naruto growls out, “Naruto is my real name, teme.”

“No. Your birth name.”

Naruto grinds his teeth before he snaps, “I don't know, alright?! The old man who took me in named me after the main character in the first book he wrote.”

Sasuke blinks. “You mean that dimestore porn?”

Naruto blushes bright red and jumps out of his seat to point a finger at Sasuke. In Japanese, he shouts, “You’ve got it all wrong! Jiraiya’s first book was a great novel! A great novel, dattebayo!”

Sasuke smirks, leaning back against the counter with cool arrogance. Naruto collapses back on the couch with his arms crossed, scowling. Kiba stares at him, but Naruto glares at Sasuke and Sasuke looks back at him calmly.

After a long moment of silence, Kiba is the first to break it. “You know, Naruto, I didn’t know anything about your life.” He bows his head and continues, “I guess Sasuke probably knows more than me since you two used to know each other, whatever that’s about… But I still think I should have known that my best friend was adopted.”

Naruto breaks his staring contest to look at his roommate in surprise. “I didn’t think it was important,” he replies. Scratching the back of his neck as he averts his gaze, he adds, “I mean, my life hasn’t been all that great…”

“Until you met me,” Sasuke supplies unhelpfully. “And helped me in Beijing.”

“Shut up,” Naruto tells him quickly.

“Wait, what? Naruto, you’ve been to Beijing?” Kiba asks, glancing between Sasuke and Naruto with astonishment written on his features. “Who the hell are you?”

Naruto meets Sasuke’s gaze with a tired expression and says, “I’m just a college student trying to learn how to help people”

Something flashes in Sasuke’s gaze. Before Naruto can identify it, he turns away with a smile.

~+~+~+~

Sakura had tracked Sasuke for months before she finally managed to figure out where he could be. Her information came through an agent of Japan's National Intelligence Agency called Itachi, who had this whole plan to get Sasuke to come after him she didn't really understand. That is, until she heard Itachi had been found dead in his apartment with wounds that looked strikingly like those the Last Uchiha used to inflict: clean cuts with worn-down blades, sharp enough to cut but not so sharp they would merely scratch. However, the strangest part was the fact that Itachi was dying before he was killed. When she found out he had been responsible for the downfall of the Uchiha clan despite being its heir, the pieces came together. He had wanted to be killed by the last remaining member of their clan before his illness did it, and in doing so would break Sasuke’s cover.

It really was genius.

Sakura found out a Sasuke was attending Tokyo University and flew to his apartment, only to find it already cleared out. She fumed, but Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder and calmly suggested they head home for now and regroup.

So, a woman with short pink hair steps off a plane into Reagan National Airport with her partner, Kakashi, in tow. Sakura looks around carefully once they get to baggage claim. Kakashi is a few years her senior, but he decided to let her take the lead on the Sasuke Uchiha case. He told her he's had enough run-ins with Uchiha, and refused to say anything more.

Sakura grabs their suitcases and hails a taxi, which takes them first to Kakashi’s apartment and then to the townhouse Sakura shares with her close friend and roommate, Ino Yamanaka. Ino isn’t home yet, and she finds herself grateful to finally be alone for once. Not that she isn't grateful for Kakashi's mentorship, if it could even be called that when he spends most of their missions reading Japanese porn, but she needs her space. After all, she is a girl. How is she supposed to have a love life if her partner is constantly lying on the couch with a book?

She remembers the day she joined the FBI like it was yesterday. How excited she felt to meet her new partner, a man with hundreds of arrests to his name. She was fresh out of the academy, bright and enthusiastic. She earned the bare minimum field experience necessary as a police officer to get accepted, and was ready to serve the people.

Once she got her first hitman case, she was hooked. And Kakashi didn't mind; he just wanted to arrest killers, whatever the circumstances.

Running into the Demon Fox at the gala all those years ago was a surprise, too. She soon realized he and Sasuke Uchiha had been sent to kill each other, but only once their bodies turned up charred at the warehouse. It’s possible that if Sasuke survived, so did the Demon Fox, but the chance that those two killers would trust each other enough to stick together is slim.

She opens the fridge and makes a sound of discontent in the back of her throat upon finding it empty. She’ll take a nap and head to the grocery store when she wakes up. Maybe Kakashi was right: maybe it is alright to let some cases go.

~+~+~+~

The next few weeks go by surprisingly easily. Sasuke is still a bastard, Kiba keeps making weird innuendos, and Ino goes on about her roommate who has just returned from a business trip in Japan. Naruto bugs her about letting him meet her, but Ino just laughs him off. Kiba makes a joke warning Naruto not to go cheating on his exotic beauty, which prompts Ino to quickly barrage him with questions, having missed Sasuke’s arrival. Naruto deflects most of them, explaining only that Sasuke needed some help for a while and Naruto owes him a favor.

Ino leans in with a strange look in her eye and says, “If you let me meet him, I’ll introduce you to Sakura.”

Naruto tenses. “Sakura…?”

Ino blinks, startled. “Yeah. Haven’t I told you her name before?”

Naruto shakes his head. Memories of the gala and a woman with short pink hair, a knife against his back, smoke and an exhilarating chance encounter at the airport flood his mind. His hands are shaking. It’s hard to breathe. Shikamaru asks him if he’s alright. He excuses himself quietly and heads to the bathroom. He steps into the last stall and locks the door behind him to lean against it.

“Fuck,” Naruto gasps, dragging his hands through his hair.

He was so close. Four years of freedom, four years of finally being able to put his guns down, and now his past comes back to haunt him. Four years, and for the last year of that, one of his best friends has been roommates with the woman tasked with hunting him down.

“Naruto?” Shikamaru’s voice calls, echoing through the bathroom. “Are you okay?”

Naruto sobs. He sinks to the floor against the stall wall and puts his head in his hands as the tears flow. He was so close. So close to freedom, and happiness. Is he going to have to disappear again? Sakura doesn’t know his name, but that’s no guarantee she won’t figure him out eventually. Especially now that she knows Sasuke’s still alive.

Shikamaru kneels on the other side of the door with a sigh.

“I just…” Naruto sniffs, wiping his eyes. “I thought I was free. I thought I’d finally left my old life behind, and now…”

Another sobs wracks his body and he covers his mouth to stop himself from crying out.

“Listen, Naruto,” Shikamaru sighs. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re all here for you. No matter what happens, or who you used to be. We know you’re a good guy. We’ll protect you.”

“Right,” Naruto laughs bitterly. “What if I told you protecting someone like me could get you killed, too?”

Shakarmu startles. “What are you-?”

“I’m not a good person, Shikamaru. I can’t tell you more than that, but Sakura… She’s an FBI agent, right? Pink hair, green eyes. She’s been hunting me for a long time. I thought I finally escaped her four years ago, but-”

Naruto continues to cry. Shikamaru frowns.

“Naruto, open the door.”

Naruto doesn’t move.

“Naruto.”

Slowly, he stands up and unlocks the door. Shikamaru looks at him for a moment. Always sunny Naruto, always smiling, the kindest, strongest person he knows now standing in a bathroom stall with red-rimmed eyes and a runny nose because he can’t escape the life he had, whatever it was. Shikamaru pulls him into a hug. Naruto startled briefly before he returns it.

“I don’t care who you used to be,” Shikamaru tells him firmly. “The Naruto I know is kind, and wants to help people. So if Sakura is still after you, I’ll fight for you. It’s a drag, but you’re my best friend.”

Naruto huffs a laugh and hugs him a little tighter.

When they break apart, Naruto pulls out his phone and tells Shikamaru, “I have to call Sasuke. I’ll catch up with you later, okay? And, maybe ask Ino not to tell Sakura his name?”

Shikamaru smiles and nods. He claps his hand on Naruto’s shoulder and tells him to take care of himself before he leaves.

Naruto locks the main door to the bathroom behind him, his phone already ringing.

“Hm,” a low, gravelly voice greets on the other side of the line.

“Sasuke,” Naruto says, quick and low. “Sakura’s here. She’s my friend’s roommate, dattebayo.”

“What?”

Naruto switches to Japanese and continues, “I know, I only just found out. Be careful. If she sees either of our faces, we’re really dead. Got it?”

“Yes,” Sasuke responds slowly.

“I’ll see you later,” Naruto tells him, unlocking the door and starting to leave the bathroom.

“Naruto.”

Naruto pauses just outside.

“_Be careful._”

Naruto keeps walking, voice low as he answers, “You, too.”

~+~+~+~

When Naruto comes home that afternoon, Sasuke is leaning on the balcony with a cigarette, the door open behind him.

“You still smoke those awful things?” Naruto grumbles, heading toward the kitchen.

He reaches into the fridge to pull out a beer and joins Sasuke on the balcony. Sasuke shoots him a sideways glance as he takes another drag.

“Is your cover even old enough to drink?” Sasuke retorts dryly.

“I’m twenty-five years old, dattebayo.”

Sasuke extinguishes his cigarette on the balcony and drops it to the street below. He turns toward Naruto, leaning back on the metal bar.

“You’re a year older than me.”

Naruto raises his eyebrows. He takes a drink and looks out at the street below. He laughs once, a bitter sound, and Sasuke quirks an eyebrow.

“Who would have thought my past would catch up to me like this?” Naruto murmurs with a sad smile.

Sasuke watches him wordlessly. He notices the way Naruto’s gaze lingers on the concrete below. His fingers itch to reach out to him, but getting close to someone is dangerous for people like them.

Although, something tells Sasuke Naruto might be the only person he can trust.

So Sasuke does what his instincts tell him to, and reaches out. His hand hovers before he gently places it on Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto shoots him a glance with a raised eyebrow, but his sad smile widens slightly as he turns back toward the street. His eyelids fall.

Sasuke is struck by how vulnerable he looks. The scars on his cheeks stand out against his tan skin; his jaw is sharp and shows faint stubble. His hair is a mess of soft and golden curls, his eyes bluer than the sky.

Sasuke catches himself staring and turns away.

“We really messed up this time,” Naruto says softly.

Sasuke looks at him again. He turns away again after a moment and says, “...I’ll turn myself in.”

Naruto’s eyes go wide. He looks at Sasuke and grabs the hand Sasuke had rested on the railing, ignoring the way Sasuke tenses as he leans in.

“You can’t,” Naruto tells him firmly. “We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

“No,” Sasuke retorts, turning his head away to avoid looking Naruto in the eye. “I dragged you into this. It’s my fight, and I should finish it. Thank you for everything, Naruto.”

“Enough already!” Naruto shouts as he grabs Sasuke by the shoulders and shakes him. “You’re the last Uchiha! Are you seriously just gonna give up without a fight?!”

Sasuke fixes him in a piercing, one-eyed glare that makes him falter. Sasuke slaps his hands away and narrows his eyes.

“It’s my fault she knows your face in the first place. I’m not going to let you die, too.”

Naruto grits his teeth, hands clenched into fists at his sides. He holds Sasuke’s icy gaze with fire in his own.

Only the sound of the front door opening is enough to break their staring contest.

“Uh… I bought more ramen,” Kiba says, holding up a Costco box with the Cup Noodle logo cheerfully plastered on the sides.

Sasuke stalks past him and grabs his jacket from a hook by the door. Naruto follows after him with his arm outstretched.

“Sasuke, wait!”

“I’m just going to buy some cigarettes,” Sasuke snaps, slipping into his shoes. “I’ll be back later.”

He slams the door behind him. Naruto stands listless in the living room. His arm falls back to his side and he stares at the closed door for a long moment before he sighs and bows his head. Kiba asks him what’s wrong, but Naruto doesn’t answer. He tosses his empty beer can into the garbage, grabs his jacket instead, and mutters something about going for a walk before he follows Sasuke out the door. He steps outside with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

Sasuke is nowhere to be seen, but Naruto doesn’t care. He’s not going after him. So, he looks toward the nearest convenience store, and marches off in the opposite direction.

If the bastard wants to get himself killed, who’s he to stand in the way?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos, just a few have really boosted my ratings <3


	5. Are You Living or Just Surviving?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this fic has lower hits than my Tokyo Ghoul fic, I can't believe the Naruto fandom's dead.

Sasuke is checking out at a convenience store with a pack of cigarettes and a fresh burner phone when a woman he never hoped to see again walks in. She looks around briefly, but her gaze doesn’t linger. Sasuke pays no mind to the cashier speaking to him as he bows his head, hands the man a little more money than necessary, and starts toward the door.

He could turn himself in now. It could all be over. He would likely face the death penalty, but if he can swear he killed Naruto and save him then-

_We’re in this together, aren’t we?_

Something warm and deadly starts to bloom in Sasuke’s chest at the memory. He slips past her with a smile and starts back toward the student apartments with his head down.

Damn that idiot.

Sasuke hasn’t felt this way in years. His relationships always ended quick and violently. Either he got scared, his partner got sick of his bullshit, or a combination of the two. The few times he made the mistake of falling for someone, it ended horribly. He can’t let anyone in, and he can’t explain why he won’t stay in one place. But Naruto- Naruto might be the first person to understand. Naruto might be the only person who can.

God, damn it. Not now. Sasuke had enough of this the few short days they spent together, enough of this ridiculous crush and lust for someone he doesn’t even know. He’s had enough. But Naruto’s blue eyes are so understanding, and he actually seems to care. He could read Sasuke after barely a day and helped him with a personal vendetta that could have gotten him killed. Now, he’s risking his life for Sasuke again and putting his cover on the line just to keep him safe.

That’s not something just anyone would do.

Sasuke looks up just in time to realize that he’s about to walk onto a bridge, and totally lost.

“Damn it,” he growls, taking stock of his surroundings. “Where the hell am I?”

“Excuse me?” a woman calls, drawing his attention to her as she approaches, smiling. “Are you lost?”

Sasuke takes in her appearance. She has long blonde hair, a purple tube top in the early spring with a leather jacket over it, and black skinny jeans with black boots. Her smile widens.

“I’m Ino Yamanaka. I haven’t seen you around campus before, are you new?”

“I’m staying with a friend,” Sasuke admits carefully, narrowing his eyes.

The only reason women he’s never met before have come up to him before were to flirt, and he’s only ever used them to his gain. He can’t afford a distraction now, and women aren’t really his type.

So, he gets straight to the point.

“Sorry, but if you’re interested in me, you’re not really my type.”

Her eyes widen. Then she covers her mouth with her hand and laughs. Sasuke startles.

“Oh, my. I’m a lesbian, but that might the first time a guy thought I was hitting on him and rejected me.”

Sasuke blinks. Then, because he apparently has no social skills whatsoever, he tells her, “I’m gay.”

She grins and leans in. “Those jeans with _that_ hair? Honey, I know. Come on, I’ll walk you back to your friend’s.”

Sasuke falls into step beside her.

“So, where does he live?”

“...The university apartments.”

She flashes him another grin and asks, “Is he your boyfriend?”

Sasuke feels his face grow hot and inhales sharply, drawing his shoulders up.

“No,” he retorts hotly.

Her smile turns impish. She lowers her voice as she says, “But you want him to be, don’t you?”

Sasuke knows he’s blushing, he knows he could kill her and probably should before she they run into Naruto and she tells him everything, but he can’t deny it. He’s a good flirt, a good actor, but he can’t deny his true feelings for the life of him.

So, he turns away without giving her an answer.

“I barely know him,” Sasuke defends, but it sounds futile and false even to his own ears.

He knows more about Naruto than almost anyone. He knows about Naruto’s past, from who raised him to what he used to be. He knows Naruto hated his old life and however he got dragged into it, he was so happy to leave. He knows that Naruto wants to help people, and that he’s kind and caring to a fault. The idiot could probably turn the darkest people good.

Sasuke knows better creatures than himself could love him. He knows Naruto is sunshine and everything good, that Naruto deserves to be happy, and Sasuke knows he wants nothing more than to be a part of that happiness. He also knows such a thing might not be possible.

After all, Naruto has a future. He’s going into nursing and wants to have a good, honest life. Sasuke’s nothing but an international criminal, a murderer and thief, yakuza scum. The only future he has is in prison because what judge in their right mind is going to let him become a lawyer? What poor soul is going to want a former criminal defending them?

It’s useless. He should just give up and turn himself in before he drags Naruto down with him. He should, and yet… Naruto’s blue eyes come back to him, pleading and sad, and Sasuke can’t do it.

“What was your name again?” Ino asks as they mount the steps to the building Naruto lives in.

Sasuke turns to her outside the door. Her gaze is genuinely curious, no hint of bloodlust or concern. She’s not an agent, or a cop.

“Sasuke,” he answers honestly. “Sasuke Uzumaki.”

Her expression shifts with recognition and Sasuke feels dread creep up the back of his neck.

“You’re Sasuke? Naruto and Kiba’s new roommate?”

Sasuke frowns. Naruto should have known better than to tell anyone about him who didn’t need to know.

“I’m his friend,” Ino explains, noticing his unease. “Wow, Kiba was totally right. No wonder Naruto’s into you.”

Sasuke, who has just barely come to terms with the fact that he might like Naruto and has certainly not begun to consider whether or not Naruto feels the same, nearly has a heart attack.

“What?” he asks sharply, narrowing his eyes again.

“Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t see it!” She takes him by the arm and leads him into the lobby, carefully avoiding the other students as she guides him toward the elevators. “He constantly checks his messages, he’s more jittery than usual, he gets fired up every time Kiba mentions you, and he refuses to tell us how you two know each other. All he ever says is he owes you a favor.”

Sasuke hides his disappointment beneath cold indifference and turns to face the doors as they close.

“All of that is just because of our history,” he explains robotically. “It has nothing to do with his feelings for me, or lack thereof.”

“What history? How did you meet?”

Sasuke shoots her a glare and hopes she’ll drop the subject. Unfortunately, as they step out of the elevator onto Naruto’s floor, she grabs his arms and forces him to stop and face her. She’s deadly calm, her bubbly excitement replaced by something hard and demanding.

“Who are you?” she asks calmly.

Sasuke looks at her for a moment. He tries to pull away, but her grip is like iron. Calmly, he holds her gaze and offers her an answer.

“I met Naruto at a charity gala in 2015. We left early and I asked him to help me with a personal matter. In return, I gave him the chance to leave his old life behind. I told him then his debt to me was paid, but…” Sasuke looks toward their door, remembering how relieved and grateful he felt the first time he saw it.

Ino smiles softly and says, “Naruto is the kind of guy who never turns down someone in need.” She lets go of his arm and walks away toward the stairs. “Take good care of him, Sasuke Uchiha.”

Sasuke starts.

She sends him a sneaky smile and a wave over her shoulder and promises, “Don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me.”

He starts to follow her as the door shut behind her, but the chime of the elevator catches his attention. Especially when the man revealed behind the doors turns out to be Naruto himself.

Both of them freeze, caught in each other’s stare.

The elevator doors start to close. Naruto catches it with one hand and steps out, passing Sasuke with a sideways glance, his jacket slung over his shoulder. He seems calm, but there’s a quiet anger about him that puts Sasuke on edge.

“You should really quit,” Naruto warns, unlocking the door.

Sasuke tenses. Then he remembers the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, and relaxes.

“Easy for you to say,” he retorts, following Naruto inside.

Naruto shoots him a calm look. Sasuke recalls the way Naruto acted in the airport, and later when they went to the club. He forgot Naruto dealt with his own drug problem for a while.

“Sorry,” Sasuke replies softly, bowing his head as he shuts the door.

“Don’t sweat it,” Naruto reassures.

He throws his jacket over the back of the sofa and walks in. Kiba looks up from the TV show he was watching with a cup of instant noodles in his hand and asks them, around a mouthful, what’s going on. Naruto ignores him and heads to his room, closing the door behind him. Sasuke opens his new pack, pulls a lighter out of his pocket, and heads out onto the balcony.

So Ino is the friend Naruto mentioned, and Sakura’s her roommate. Now Ino knows his face and his name. Sakura’s files should be top-secret, so Ino shouldn’t know what he’s done. But how does she know his real name?

Sasuke takes a deep drag from the cigarette and relishes the way it burns his chest and throat. He exhales slowly, tasting the acrid smoke before releasing it into the air. Naruto’s dealt with his fair share of vices. Perhaps Sasuke should leave one of his behind, too.

“Sasuke, what the hell is going on?” Kiba asks from the doorway, frowning.

Sasuke looks at him calmly and takes another drag before he answers, “Naruto’s being an idiot.”

“You’re a self-sacrificing bastard!” Naruto shouts back from his room, the window open beside the balcony. “If you want to get yourself killed, I won’t stop you!”

Sasuke flips him off.

Kiba glances between them at a loss for words and eventually gives up with a sigh and goes back to his show. Sasuke watches the clouds pass by overhead, trying not to think about how the blue of the sky is about the same shade as Naruto’s eyes, until he finishes his cigarette and steps back inside.

“I ran into Ino,” he says calmly as he fills a glass of water from the sink.

Kiba looks up from the TV again, wide-eyed.

“Really,” he replies, startled. “How did that go?”

“She’s convinced Naruto has a thing for me,” Sasuke reports as he takes his usual seat beside the counter.

Kiba’s expression shifts toward something like hunger and he leans in, lowering his voice. “What do you think?”

Sasuke remembers the night they met, when Sasuke offered his proposition. Naruto told him clearly then, Sasuke’s not his type.

“No chance in hell,” Sasuke retorts. He takes a sip from his glass.

Just then, Naruto leaves his room and stalks past Sasuke into the kitchen. He grabs another beer and throws a cup of ramen in the microwave, barely sparing Sasuke a glance as he leaves again. This time, the door slams behind him.

Sasuke sits stunned and blinks.

Kiba raises his eyebrows and looks away as if to say, _I’m not getting involved in this,_ and leans back to finish watching his show. Sasuke stares at him for a moment before he returns his gaze to Naruto’s closed door.

No way. Naruto’s just angry about their fight earlier. This has nothing to do with anything more than his stupid, unnecessary protective instincts.

Maybe giving himself up is a foolish plan anyway. After all, they’re going to figure out that Naruto is still alive. They don’t know his name, and Sakura might recognize his face but they just have to make sure that doesn’t happen. He came too close today. So if they can move, if they can get out of here when Naruto’s term ends and fly somewhere safe, then maybe things could work out for them. Sasuke’s family still has a number of properties worldwide they could use. It could work. Sakura doesn’t know how close she is to either of them.

Sasuke pulls out the new burner phone he bought and dials an old number.

“Nǐ hǎo,” Sai answers cheerfully with an exaggerated Chinese accent. “Root Art Studio, how may I help you?”

“Sai,” Sasuke greets in English, keeping his voice low. “It’s me.”

Sai is quiet for a moment. When he answers, it’s clear he’s in another room and his voice is low and grave. He responds in English.

“Sasuke. Long time, no see. I heard what happened to your brother. So sorry for you loss.”

“I need you to find out which of my family’s properties are still in my name,” Sasuke tells him firmly. “I’m not in Japan, so I can’t do it myself.”

“Rumor has it you’re in hiding with a dead man,” Sai comments, and Sasuke can picture him looking at his nails. “Is it true, Sasuke-kun?”

“Text me when you have the information,” Sasuke retorts.

He’s about to hang up, but one last statement from Sai gives him pause.

“My services aren’t free.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes. “The Demon Fox is still alive.” Then he ends the call before Sai can say anything else.

When he sets his phone down, Kiba pipes up, “What’s the Demon Fox?”

Sasuke shoots him a glance and replies, “Ask Naruto,” before he finishes off his drink and heads out again.

He’ll go clear his head on the roof.

~+~+~+~

Of course Naruto doesn’t like the bastard’s idea. Turning himself in won’t accomplish anything except revealing for certain his continued survival, and possibly ending his life for real. Not to mention the risks it poses to Naruto and his friends, who have been harboring him for the last month. On top of that, Sasuke made it abundantly clear he won’t ever like Naruto.

Not that Naruto is necessarily into him, but Sasuke’s the only living person who understands. He’s attractive and he’s a dick but it’s hard to not care about him when they have so much in common. So forgive him if it hurts a little to know the one person Naruto might be able to have something real with doesn’t want any more to do with him than necessary.

Which is why, when Naruto wakes up in the middle of the night after another nightmare, the last person he expects to come out on the balcony to comfort him is Sasuke.

Naruto opens his eyes with a fake, easy smile already on his lips, expecting Kiba. Usually, he manages not to wake his roommate when this happens, and when he does he reassures him with a smile and Kiba goes back to bed. But instead, Sasuke comes out and stands beside him to look up at the stars.

“Can’t sleep?” Naruto asks gently, letting his fake smile fade to a more natural one, albeit a little sad.

Sasuke eyes him wordlessly. Naruto sighs and leans his head back against the wall, his wrist rested on his knee as he sits on the hard cement slab that protrudes three stories above the ground.

“So you’re finally talking to me again,” Sasuke says after a moment.

It takes Naruto a second to realize that he hasn’t said more than a few words to Sasuke since their fight. When he does, he bows his head with a sheepish chuckle.

“Sorry, I… Well, nevermind.”

They sit in silence for a long moment, staring at the night sky as the cool air blows in their faces and freezes their hands. 

“It was a stupid idea,” Sasuke admits after a while. When Naruto looks at him quizzically, he bows his head and elaborates, “Turning myself in. It was a bad idea.”

Naruto snorts. “Not just bad, that’s worse than half the ideas I’ve ever made, dattebayo!”

“Yeah, and that’s saying something,” Sasuke laughs.

Naruto feels his heart skip a beat when Sasuke shows him his smile, moonlit and soft. _Fuck_, Naruto thinks. He drags his hand through his hair and tries to get the thought of kissing Sasuke out of his head as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the bastard doesn’t seem to care. He sits down beside Naruto and leans into him for warmth. With a soft sigh, he rests his head on Naruto’s shoulder.

“Relax,” Sasuke tells him drily when Naruto tenses. “I left my knives under your bed.”

Naruto doesn’t know how to explain that’s not what he’s worried about without giving himself away, so he just exhales slowly and looks up at the stars. After another beat of silence, he is the first to break the silence.

“...Kiba asked me about the Demon Fox.”

Sasuke’s eyelids fall slightly, his long eyelashes close to touching Naruto’s shoulder. “What did you say?”

Naruto looks away from him and says, "I told him it was the name of a mercenary."

Sasukes is quiet again for a moment. "I contacted Sai. Four of my family's compounds are still uncompromised. Once you finish your degree, we could run away. You've helped me this far; I want to return the favor."

Naruto straightens up a little to turn toward him. Sasuke sits up, returning his gaze calmly. Both of them are unreadable.

"I know the risks of staying here," Naruto tells him calmly. "I want to finish my degree. If Sakura catches up to me, I'll deal with her when the time comes. I'm not leaving, so if you want to go somewhere else, be my guest."

Sasuke's gaze hardens. "I'm not leaving you."

"Why are you acting like you care about me?" Naruto asks, furrowing his brow. "I'm not going to kick you out. You don't have to play a part around me. Stop pretending."

Something flickers in Sasuke's gaze, but it's gone in the blink of an eye. When he speaks again, his voice is gentle and earnest. He takes Naruto's hand lightly, ignoring the flash of surprise the action earns.

"I'm not pretending."

Naruto stares at him, trying to read him for any sign of deceit or sarcasm. But Sasuke's eye is crystal clear and deep, honest and concerned, and his lips are set in a soft line. Naruto brushes Sasuke's bangs out of the way and inhales sharply.

Sasuke's left eye is completely clouded over. It looks faintly purple in the dark, reminding Naruto of a pair of eyes he last saw glazed over and wide open.

Sasuke reaches up to cover it and turns away.

"The result of the fight with my brother," he admits. "He used a knife with poison and managed to scratch my eye. I lost all sight and light sensitivity in it."

Naruto’s expression softens. He pulls Sasuke’s hand out of the way carefully and waits for him to meet his gaze again. Naruto smiles. He closes his eyes, and his heart skips a beat when Sasuke meets him halfway.

Sasuke’s lips are just as soft as Naruto hoped.

Naruto’s jaw has just as much sharp stubble as Sasuke thought.

When they pull away, Naruto smiles and holds Sasuke close, keeping his bangs held back.

“I thought you weren’t interested,” Naruto laughs, breathless, staring into his eyes.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow and leans in to kiss him again, a little longer but a little less gentle.

Then he leans in to murmur in Naruto’s ear, “I thought you were straight.”

Naruto laughs again and pulls Sasuke over his lap to straddle him. Naruto grins up at him with that predatory look in his eye, exaggerated by the jagged scars on his cheeks and sharp canines that remind Sasuke of the night they met and makes his heart race.

“Teme, I’m not the type to care about that kind of stuff.”

Sasuke presses him against the wall to kiss him again.

Naruto returns it for a while before he murmurs against his lips, hands resting on Sasuke’s hips, “Is that a knife or are you just happy to see me?”

Sasuke snorts a laugh before his lips touch Naruto’s neck and he breathes, “Shut up, usuratonkachi. I’m leaving tonight.”

Naruto opens his mouth to argue, but Sasuke silences him with a finger.

“I’m not going to put you or your friends in danger any longer than I have,” he explains softly. “I’m leaving tonight, and I want us to enjoy this chance. We might never see each other again.”

He takes his finger away from Naruto’s lips slowly. Naruto nods with a sigh, and pulls him in closer.

“I understand,” he murmurs against Sasuke’s neck.

Sasuke hums, tilting his head back as his eyes slide shut. Naruto might be the only person in the world who can say that honestly.

“Sasuke?” Naruto asks lowly, still pressing gentle kisses to his neck.

“Hm?”

Naruto moves to whisper something in Sasuke’s ear that makes his eyes open wide. He pushes Naruto back to see a sheepish smile on his face and uncertainty in his light blue eyes, and Sasuke kisses him hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Remember this chapter, it's important!


	6. Save Yourself; You’re the Only One Who Can

Sakura thought her day couldn’t get any worse. She went to the nearest convenience store to buy a couple cheap bottles of wine and some bad romance novels. When a man walked past her trying to hide his face with a familiar build and height, she pretended not to notice. After the doors closed behind him, she pulled out her phone and sent her roommate a text.

_Black jacket, baseball cap, ripped skinny jeans leaving 7/11 on O & Wisconsin. Tail him for me?_

She was relieved when Ino jokingly replied after a brief moment, _Target spotted. Permission to engage?_

Sakura smiled and sent, _Thanks, love you_. She pocketed her phone and went home to wait.

When Ino returned, Sakura asked her to relay everything she could. Ino has almost telepathic abilities when it comes to reading people, so when she tells Sakura that Sasuke seems tortured and sad, Sakura believes her. The guy just killed his brother. He might be a murderer, but he’s still human.

“Thank, Ino,” Sakura told her. “Any idea where he was going?”

Ino smiled and said Sasuke insisted on leaving once he knew where he was going. Sakura nodded, resigned. Of course he wouldn’t give himself away that easily.

So Sakura and Ino started one of the bottles of wine Sakura bought as they start up their latest TV show, and Sakura decided to deal with it tomorrow.

Well, tomorrow came and she reported to Kakashi. After a lengthy discussion, they decided that if the Demon Fox and Sasuke Uchiha are indeed staying in D.C. and done killing, maybe they could work out a deal. If the two of them agree to turn over all the information they have on Akatsuki and the Uchiha clan, perhaps they could get off easy. As much as Sakura wanted to make them pay for their crimes, Kakashi gently reminded her that they might be victims too.

Most hitmen are forced into the role, and it would make sense of why they faked their deaths and disappeared four years ago. It was his idea to find them and bring them in for questioning to see if it’s possible they don’t want anything to do with their old lives, and might be willing to become protected witnesses.

Which is why, a few weeks later, Sakura is about to storm an apartment on Georgetown University campus with a SWAT team and a search warrant earned with the help of photos of the Demon Fox from around campus as well as the video footage from the convenience store that day.

She always tries to keep herself from having expectations when doing something like this. Nonetheless, nothing prepares her for what happens.

When she pounds on the door with the shout, “Open up! FBI!” the only thing she didn’t expect was the sound of the lock unlatching before the door swings open to reveal the Demon Fox standing in the doorway, expression calm and serious. A first-person shooter videogame is on the TV in the background, but Sakura can’t see past the Demon Fox’s imposing frame.

“Sakura,” he greets calmly. “It’s been awhile, dattebayo.”

The game stops, and Sakura hears an unfamiliar man ask, “Naruto, what the fuck is going on?”

Sakura startles. Ino has told her so many stories about her friend Naruto, nursing student devoted to saving lives, the kindest person she’s ever met, campus heartthrob affectionately nicknamed Georgetown’s Captain America, and the guy who never tells anyone where he’s from. Ino and her friends have been trying to figure out what he used to do for years.

She looks at the Demon Fox, at Naruto, and murmurs, “Oh.”

Naruto smiles sadly, but doesn’t move away from the door.

Sakura waves the SWAT team to stand down and hands Naruto the warrant. He unfolds it and reads it carefully before he hands it back with a nod and steps back.

“Holy shit!” the brown-haired man on the sofa shouts when he sees the SWAT team, headed by a sharp-eyed woman in a bulletproof vest with the FBI logo on the front.

“Relax, Kiba,” he replies calmly, heading toward a door near the glass windows onto the balcony. “They’re not here for you.”

Sakura flashes him a reassuring smile. He doesn’t look any more assured, though. He gaze shifts to the doorway Naruto disappeared through, and he comes out with a jacket and a guitar case Sakura has too much experience to believe might actually contain an instrument.

As two of the officers step forward to confiscate the weapon and handcuff the former hitman, Sakura reads him his rights, and watches with baffled pity as Naruto leaves without a backward glance at his roommate and his head held high. He must know he could be walking to his death, yet he’s perfectly composed.

What exactly is going on here?

~+~+~+~

Shikamaru notices Naruto's absence during their lectures. Kiba is sitting at their table around lunch, quieter than usual. He twitches and dodges every question about Naruto. Ino keeps her head down, clearly worried about something, but when he confronts her about it she smiles and says it's nothing. Which means this likely has something to do with Sakura, and Naruto's past.

Finally, Shikamaru has had enough.

He pulls Kiba aside after lunch and drags it out of him.

"Listen Kiba, I know Naruto's in trouble," he explains swiftly, careful to keep his voice low. "What's going on?"

Kiba's expression is conflicted, but after he holds Shikamaru's gaze for a moment, he gives in with a sigh and turns away.

"This morning, somebody came pounding on the door saying they were FBI. I figured they were there for Sasuke since he left in a hurry in the middle of the night, but… It was weird, man," Kiba explains, shaking his head. "It's like he was expecting them."

Shikamaru nods and thanks him before he sends Kiba on his way. Once Kiba is out of earshot, Shikamaru pulls out his phone and tries Naruto’s phone one more time. Naruto’s voicemail answers without ringing and Shikamaru leaves one more message.

“Naruto. I’m gonna find out where you are and figure out a way to help you. Call me back when you can.”

Then, because he doesn’t know where else to start, he searches up the location of the nearest FBI field office.

Of course the Washington, D.C. office is oversecured and swarming with officials.

Shikamaru gazes up at the building in dismay. If only he had his dad’s old access card, then maybe he’d stand a chance. Just as he’s about to give up, a man with white hair smoking near the steps who appears to be about his father’s age calls out to him.

“Looking for something?”

Shikamaru takes a look at him and sighs. “I’m trying to help a friend,” he explains, shooting another glance at the building. “I’m not sure what he’s gotten himself mixed up in, but it’s a drag. He was taken into your custody earlier today and I wanted to try to talk to him.”

The old man startles slightly, shown only by the raising of his eyebrows. He puts out his cigarette and tosses it into an ashtray at the bottom of the steps.

“Your friend wouldn’t happen to go by the name Naruto Uzumaki,” he asks, voice low and curious.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru blinks.

“You’d better come with me.”

The man turns and slips his hands into the pockets of his grey suit as he begins making his way up the stairs. Shikamaru takes a glance around and follows.

“My name’s Kakashi,” the old man introduces as he gets them through security with a nod. “My partner and I have been on Uzumaki’s case for years.”

“Shikamaru,” Shikamaru replies automatically, after thanking the security officer who lets him through. “Is your partner Sakura Haruno, by any chance?”

Kakashi shoots him an intrigued look and says, “Yes. I take it you know her.”

“She’s my friend’s roommate,” Shikamaru answers with a shrug. “When Naruto found out her name, he kinda freaked out. I knew something was up.”

“And yet you still want to help him,” Kakashi comments, turning away. “He must seem like a good guy.”

Shikamaru takes a more careful look at him, noticing the fact that Kakashi chose the word “seems”.

“Yeah,” he tells him, guarded. “Yeah, he is.”

He might be imagining it, but it seems like Kakashi smiles.

Before he can be sure, they step into a busy elevator and take it down a floor. Below, the doors open upon rows of old hallways lined with filing cabinets. A few other agents and officials step off with them, and Kakashi takes them on a sharp turn toward the left. They step into the first grey, metal door, and into a dimly lit room with two doors and two soundproof windows: likely one-way glass.

Behind the nearest one, a pink-haired woman sits with a blond, broad-shouldered guy. He’s not smiling, but his posture is relaxed. His hands are cuffed to the table in front of him, fingers laced together, and he speaks in a calm, low voice.

It looks like Naruto, but it can’t be.

The Naruto he knows loves joking around and drinking beer, watching football and shouting when a foul doesn’t get called or one of the teams makes a bad play. He plays video games and wants to help people, with kindness always in his eyes.

This Naruto is colder. He’s calm and collected, perfectly stoic. His eyes are sharp and focused, but lack their usual mirth. It’s the Naruto Shikamaru has only glimpsed occasionally. Once, when Shikamaru passed out on Kiba and Naruto’s couch and woke up to find him standing on the balcony, staring at the sky with a deeper sadness than Shikamaru had ever seen. Another when Naruto got an important call and spoke softly in Japanese to an old friend, saying he owes him. And the last time, broken down and crying in a bathroom stall, when he admitted he thought he’d left his old life behind but a past like his doesn’t stay buried easily.

And sure, this Naruto seems raw and real, but that doesn’t make the cheerful, kind Naruto any less so.

“Shocking, isn’t it?” Kakashi murmurs, watching them. “How one person can put on an act for so long.”

“No,” Shikamaru replies firmly, voice soft and earnest. “It wasn’t an act.”

Kakashi looks over at him carefully. He notices the calm expression on the kid’s face and realizes, he truly believes what he’s saying. Kakashi returns his attention to the world-class hitman sitting calmly across from one of the best agents in the FBI, his successor and possibly a future director, and smiles.

Maybe Naruto does stand a chance.

Kakashi presses the button next to the window that allows the speaker to carry their voice into the room, and watches Shikamaru out of the corner of his eye.

“And explain to me again the events of the 2016 Charity Gala,” Sakura requests, leaning on the edge of the table with her fingers laced on top of it.

“I was hired to kill Sasuke by an unknown contact I later discovered to be Orochimaru, the kingpin of the Hebi crime syndicate. Sasuke was offered the same job. Both of us were sent the information that our target would be at the gala that night. Sasuke already figured it out and came up with this whole plan to fake our deaths and used you for that. The bastard threatened me into helping him, not that I wouldn’t have anyway,” Naruto growls, leaning back in his seat. “He gave me the chance to make my former employers think I was dead and escape that life for good. In return, I just had to do him a favor.”

“And what was that?” Sakura asks.

“He asked me to help kill Orochimaru.”

Shikamaru startles.

“What did you do?” she continues.

“We used bodies from a mortician as decoys and blew up a warehouse in Chicago,” Naruto admits calmly. “Then we booked the earliest flight to Beijing, almost ran into you at the airport, and tracked him down at a nightclub. I acted as bait to lure Orochimaru outside, where Sasuke questioned him and learned he was one of the Crow’s informants. Sasuke decided to let him live.”

“So you let him go?” Sakura confirms.

“Yes,” Naruto agrees easily, as though holding a man's life in his hands was a regular occurrence.

“Why was Sasuke after the Crow?” Sakura inquires.

Kakashi knows she already knows the answer, but she’s testing to see if Naruto does, too. That would point to a clear bond between the two that could complicate their stories.

“The Crow killed Sasuke’s family,” Naruto answers, frowning slightly. “He wanted revenge.”

“Did you know they were brothers?”

Naruto’s expression darkens. “Yes.”

Sakura nods understandingly and opens a file in front of her. She slides it across. Naruto takes a look at it, and Kakashi can just make out the photo of a red cloud tattoo.

Shikamaru stares at it with hatred and fear, and Kakashi recognizes that look. The poor kid must have lost someone to Akatsuki.

“Do you recognize this symbol?”

Naruto looks up at her with a glare Kakashi recognizes as an I-know-you-know-what-this-means look and says with a similar tone that has a sharper edge to it now, “It’s the Akatsuki logo.”

She nods. “What was your connection to them?”

“...They were my family.”

~+~+~+~

Two hours later, Shikamaru is seated in an office with Kakashi and the woman who interrogated Naruto, Special Agent Sakura Haruno.

He tells them about Naruto, about the dumbass who burns through cash like an addict on snacks, the best friend who is always there with emotional support but the worst for homework help, who always seems to laugh a little too much for how down he can get when he thinks no one can see.

He tells them about Naruto’s dreams, how broken he was when he heard Sakura’s name, how he’s seemed more authentic and happy since Sasuke arrived. He tells them about the one time he met Sasuke, about how he touched Naruto’s neck and whispered something in his ear none of them could hear.

He tells them everything, and they believe him.

“We believe Naruto could become a useful informant,” Kakashi tells him when he’s finished. “We’ve already made up our minds to try and get him a light sentence. I believe he could get off entirely on witness protection if he’s really lucky, and if his tips on Akatsuki turn out to be true.”

Shikamaru blinks, startled. “You just wanted my testimony to see what his friends think of him, right?” he realizes. “What are you going to do with Sasuke?”

Sakura frowns, and Kakashi allows her to take over.

“He’s more dangerous than Naruto,” she explains gently. “He has committed at least one confirmed murder, and it was his own brother. The Demon Fox—Naruto—doesn’t have any proven kills, and if his story checks out, he was forced into working for Akatsuki and is willing to turn against them. Sasuke chose to identify himself as the last living member of the Uchiha crime syndicate and has a known, identifiable style. Although most of the evidence against him was circumstantial until four years ago, Sasuke won’t get off easily when we catch him.”

Shikamaru nods. That makes sense.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Kakashi comments, leaning forward.

Shikamaru looks at him calmly and says, “Naruto and I have been friends for a while. He never talked about his past until he heard Sakura’s name, and even then, he just told me the FBI was after him. I know that whatever he used to do or be, he’s a good guy. It’s a drag, but I’ll help him as much as I can.”

Sakura and Kakashi take a good look at him and smile. Then Sakura stands and offers to walk him out.

After they step through the front doors, she turns toward him with a smile.

"You're a good friend," she tells him gently. "I'm not worried about setting Naruto free anymore, and part of that is thanks to you. I'll do what I can for him."

Shikamaru shakes her hand and says, "Thanks. Say hi to Ino for me."

Sakura smiles and nods before she waves him off.

Shikamaru takes the bus home. His apartment is clean and tidy, the only thing he pays for as the son of an Army officer and having served his own sentence enlisted in the Air Force. His plan was to return after he finished a medical degree, but something else has caught his attention.

Maybe he should look into the requirements of the FBI.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give me kudos, I'm a starving artist.


	7. I've Seen Ghosts Brighter Than Your Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angsty Naruto time! How will Naruto's friends react when they find out part of his secret?

Shikamaru sits on the secret for days. He updates Kiba on as much of the situation as he can without giving away Naruto’s secret directly. Shikamaru calls his dad, and visits his uncle’s grave. Shikamaru lays the bouquet he brought and a fresh pack of cigarettes on the grave.

Asuma Sarutobi was an officer for the United States Special Operations Forces, killed in a secret raid of the Akatsuki base. That’s how Shikamaru’s father met him: they were on the same squadron. Asuma sacrificed his life for Shikamaru’s father, who retired shortly after due to his own injuries and told his son the top-secret details in hopes that Shikamaru would stay away from the gang forever.

Now, Shikamaru has to live with the fact that his best friend used to work for them.

“Nothing can ever be easy, huh?” Shikamaru sighs.

He takes a seat in the damp grass and leans back to stare up at the sky. It’s a beautiful day.

“Thought I might find you here,” a low, familiar voice calls.

Shikamaru looks up at Naruto, who takes a seat beside him with a small, sad smile. Shikamaru stares at him. Naruto looks at the grave and pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket to light one before he offers the pack to Shikamaru, who declines with a shake of his head.

Naruto exhales slowly, watching the smoke drift off into the sky. Shikamaru continues to stare at him, wondering where to begin. Naruto shoots him a glance and a raised eyebrow as though to say, _Go ahead. I know you want to know._

“When did you start smoking?” Shikamaru asks instead.

Naruto snorts. He tilts his head back and leans back on one hand, smiling at the sky.

“A long time ago,” he confesses. “An old friend left me a pack. Thought I’d make use of it.”

“So it’s true?” Shikamaru turns away to stare at his godfather’s grave again, eyelids heavy.

Naruto looks over at him, serious again.

“I left that life behind,” Naruto swears, solemn.

“Just… Tell me one thing,” Shikamaru requests, turning his head toward him without quite looking him in the eye. “Did you know the man who shot that special ops captain during the Akatsuki raid? Were you one of them?”

Naruto looks down and sighs, “His name is Hidan the Immortal.”

“Did you ever work with him?”

“No,” Naruto answers. He takes another drag from the cigarette before he continues, “I was more like a contractor. My godfather founded the organization. My older siblings and I were trained to take over, but we didn’t want to. We managed to get by on our own for a little while after he died, but Nagato fell ill and we didn’t have the money to save him. The rest of us decided it was the only way.”

“...Did it work?” Shikamaru questions. “Did you save him?”

“No.” Naruto looks off into the distance again as he smokes and tells his story. “Yahiko took over, but a man named Hanzo forced him to commit suicide. Nagato died shortly afterward, and Konan went into hiding.”

“But you stayed with the organization,” Shikamaru surmises, watching his friend.

“Yes,” Naruto admits. “I worked for Hanzo for nearly ten years. The pay was good, so I had food and enough money to feed my addictions.”

“Your addictions?” Shikamaru echoes skeptically, casting naruto a raised eyebrow.

Naruto shoots him a glare and exhales another cloud of smoke before he says, “I killed people for money. I killed people, and I didn’t even know it was wrong. The drugs were the only thing that kept me sane.”

“And Sasuke?” Shikamaru asks softly, almost afraid to know.

Naruto is silent for a long moment. He finishes the cigarette and puts it out in the grass. He keeps his gaze fixed on the butt of it as a crumpled version of a smile forms on his lips. His eyes start to shine.

“He saved my life in more ways than one.”

Shikamaru looks at him for a while. This is the real Naruto: raw, rough around the edges, always a little close to tears. The Naruto who laughs and jokes around with his friends, who wants to make the world a better place, who wants to save people and knows the difference between right and wrong.

“What the hell are you going to do now?”

Naruto’s smile widens a little bit, but he doesn’t look up. Instead, he takes out a pack of cigarettes. They’re a Japanese brand, Mevius, and when Naruto flips open the lid, the end of a coordinate pair is visible from where Shikamaru sits beside him.

“I think I’m going to finish my degree,” Naruto answers calmly. “After that, well. I guess we’ll see.”

“Are you going to tell the others?” Shikamaru questions lowly.

Naruto finally looks up, and his smile falls. “That’s what I’ve been thinking about,” he admits. “Do they deserve to know?”

Shikamaru’s instinct is to say yes. But this is Naruto’s secret to tell, not his, and it’s a dark one at that.

“I think they deserve to know where you’ve been,” he answers. “And they deserve to know who you are.”

Naruto’s crumpled smile returns, and he chokes, “Do you think they’ll forgive me?”

~+~+~+~

Shikamaru is sitting at the lunch table with the others. Naruto promised he’d be here today. Kiba’s been on edge all day, but Shikamaru hasn’t gotten a chance to talk to him yet.

“Where’s Naruto been?” Ino finally asks Kiba.

As Kiba flounders to come up with a response, a blond head appears and greets them in a tired, soft voice.

“Hey, guys.”

“Wow, you look worse than you did this morning,” Kiba comments, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Naruto sits down with a sigh. His hair looks unkempt and dirty. His eyes are bloodshot and underscored by dark purple bruises from sleep deprivation. He has stubble, and his usual smile is entirely absent. He clearly hasn’t eaten well in a few days, if he has at all. The only thing normal about him are his clothes, and it’s hard to downgrade from ramen-stained t-shirts and jeans.

Naruto meets Shikamaru’s calm gaze and sighs.

He shuts his eyes and bows his head before he begins.

“There’s something I have to tell all of you,” Naruto explains, opening his eyes to the floor. “Well, a lot of things. It’s… about my past.”

Hinata and Lee gasp. Choji chokes on his lunch, but Shikamaru remains staring at his best friend, stoic, expectant. Only Ino seems to notice.

“For the last few days, I’ve been held and interrogated by the FBI.”

Naruto leans forward and drags a hand through his hair, taking a shuddering breath. Shikamaru continues to watch him.

“You’re right; I’m not a normal guy,” Naruto admits, leaning back to look each of them in the eye. His gaze lands on Shikamaru and hardens as he tells them, “I never knew my parents, or even my real name. I never went to school, and the only career I’ve ever had was as part of a crime syndicate my godfather created.”

“I knew it!” Kiba exclaims, pumping his fist.

Everyone else quickly shoots him a withering glare. He apologizes softly.

“Anyway,” Naruto continues with a small, sad smile. “I was stuck in that life until four years ago, when I ran into a man who offered me a way out.”

“Sasuke,” Shikamaru supplies with a nod. “Go on.”

Naruto shoots him a look before he replies, “Right. Sasuke.” He looks back at his other friends. “We faked our deaths, I did him a favor, and went our separate ways until a few months ago. He was on the run, Sakura Haruno was after him because he was the last member of an old yakuza clan his brother took down a long time ago. I… I was part of a gang called Akatsuki.”

Kiba, Ino, and Choji glance at Shikamaru, whose cold gaze and posture remain unchanged even at the mention of the gang that killed his uncle and ruined his father’s leg.

“Sakura started closing in and Sasuke… left,” Naruto says, keeping his voice soft. “She found me instead.”

“Wait, Ino’s roommate?” Tenten clarifies.

Naruto nods. Ino looks shocked, and then a little sick.

“I was tired of running from my past,” Naruto explains, sitting up at last. “I gave them information on the rest of the gang I was in, and told them what I know about Sasuke’s past. I was told Shikamaru witnessed part of the interrogation, and it’s partially thanks to you that I was able to be put in witness protection.”

“Like I told them,” Shikamaru replies with a shrug, “you’re a good guy now. Who or what you used to be doesn’t really change that.”

“Are we just going to pretend he didn’t just confess to being in a gang?” Ino demands. “How old are you?”

Naruto looks at her for a moment before he responds, “I don’t know exactly. Almost thirty?”

“You don’t know?” Neji asks.

“I was abandoned by my real parents and adopted by a mob boss with a writing hobby, I don’t think you can really fault me,” Naruto retorts.

“What did you do for them?” Hinata asks breathlessly.

Naruto looks at her and smiles.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” he says.

“Can’t, or won’t?” Shikamaru prods, raising an eyebrow with his arms still crossed.

“Cut me some slack.”

Shikamaru stares at him, silent. Naruto rolls his head back with a sigh, hands pressed together under the table.

“God, I can’t believe I’m telling you all this,” he chuckles, smiling. “Once I finish my degree, I’m flying back to Japan. One of my old contacts has a place set up there, and I have unfinished business with a close friend of mine. Thanks to Sakura Haruno and Kakashi, I’ve got some leads on my family, too.”

“You’re from Japan?” Lee exclaims in surprise.

Naruto grins at him and says, “As far as I’ve heard, my parents were Americans located in Okinawa when I was born. I guess they knew Jiraiya—my godfather—and didn’t want me getting involved in their life, so they sent me to grow up with him.” He looks down again as his smile turns rueful. “As well as that turned out.”

“You’re serious,” Choji realizes, wide-eyed.

“Course I am, dattebayo,” Naruto replies with a grin.

“Oh my god,” Ino breathes, covering her mouth with her hand. “It’s my fault Sakura found you, isn’t it?”

“Oh come on, stop,” Naruto tells her. “My past was going to catch up to me one way or another. I’m just glad it worked out the way it did.”

“Why? So you don’t have to pay for your crimes?” Shino says, only half-joking.

“Dude, not funny,” Kiba remarks, elbowing him.

“It’s alright, he has a point,” Naruto replies. “I do regret the things I did, dattebayo. I should have followed my sister and tried to get out when our older brothers were killed, but—”

“What?” Neji interrupts.

“We don’t have time for that story,” Naruto tells them lowly. “Listen, can we try to go back to normal? I’m in witness protection now, we legally can’t talk about this. If Akatsuki hears I’m still alive, I won’t be for much longer.”

“You were mixed up in some pretty dangerous people, huh?” Kiba remarks.

Naruto shoots him a look with the cold, dark eyes he used to wear all the time and grins his fox-like grin. He watches his friends’ eyes widen and snorts, letting his usual expression return.

“Yeah,” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess I was.”

“So, basically, if we were to—hypothetically, of course—need someone killed,” Tenten begins, leaning on the table.

“No,” Naruto retorts dryly before she can finish her sentence.

“Aw, come on! You didn’t even hear my question!”

His friends start to laugh, and Naruto smiles. Maybe it’s not so bad, not having to hide anymore.

~+~+~+~

The sound comes in the night.

Naruto wakes in a cold sweat, but not from a nightmare. No, this is a gut feeling he used to have before an ambush, and he slips out of bed silently. He pulls the gun Sasuke gave him from his bedside drawer and checks the magazine. The damn bedroom door creaks as it opens, and Naruto readies the gun with a click as Kiba starts to stir.

A shadow lunges forward and pins Naruto to the ground, but Naruto isn’t as out of practice as that. He flips them before the masked stranger can get a good hold on him, and pins him to the ground and knocks his mask off in the process.

“What the fuck, what the fuck!” Kiba screams as he jumps out of bed and turns the light on.

A man with deep, curved scars on half his face grins up at Naruto with one real and one red, glass eye. Naruto has him pinned with his wrists above his head, and the gun pressed to his chest.

“I don’t work for Akatsuki anymore,” Naruto states firmly.

“I know,” Obito replies. “I heard you were still around and had to come see for myself. What a nice surprise, Demon Fox. Why don’t you come back to Akatsuki? We could use a man like you.”

“I quit,” Naruto retorts, pressing the gun more firmly against his chest.

“Fine,” Obito sighs, resigned. “I guess I’ll have to kill you, then.”

Naruto barely has time to pull back before Obito tries to headbut him. Naruto shoots, misses, and gets tackled into the living room, the gun knocked out of his hand. Kiba is yelling, Naruto screams at him to stay out of the way, and Obito doesn’t say a word. They pummel each other until they’re spitting blood, and then until Obito gets his hands around Naruto’s neck.

“Why… Are you doing this?” Naruto chokes out, struggling against his grip.

“You can’t leave Akatsuki, Naruto,” Obito growls, holding him down. “You were our boss. Our leader! I rose in your place, and I’ll be better than you ever were!”

He starts to cackle, and that’s what gives Naruto the opportunity he needs to throw him off and go for the gun. He grabs it, straightens up, and points it as his old friend.

Obito raises his hands in surrender, grinning.

“There’s the Demon Fox I know.”

Naruto narrows his eyes. He knows Kiba is watching, a witness, a threat. He knows there are neighbors who have probably already called the cops. He knows he can’t shoot another man, not after everything.

“You’re under arrest for the serial killing of innocent people,” Naruto begins calmly, still pointing the gun at him. “For the organized slaughter of hundreds, and harboring wanted criminals.”

Obito’s eyes widen in fear and realization.

A loud pounding and the voice, “Open up, police!” come from the door and he looks toward it, panicked.

“For the murder of my brother,” Naruto adds softly as tears start to sting his eyes and his throat becomes choked. “I will _never_ let you hurt anyone again.”

“Hah,” Obito laughs, tilting his head as his smile softens. “I never thought I’d hear that from you, Aniki.”

The police swarm through the busted door and tackle both of them to the ground. Naruto is arrested for the second time this month, and much less gently.

Kiba rides with them to the police station, Naruto explains the situation. Kakashi eventually walks in with his badge and verifies Naruto’s claims, which is when they finally let the two of them go and hand Obito over to Kakashi’s team. Kiba and Naruto wander home after a long night of questioning as dawn starts to break, and Kiba finally asks what the _fuck_ Naruto used to do for them.

“I was a hitman,” Naruto admits calmly, staring straight ahead.

“What?” Kiba chokes.

They stop in the middle of the sidewalk and turn toward each other. Naruto’s expression is calm but grave.

“Akatsuki is a mercenary organization,” he explains. “I was a hired killer.”

Kiba gapes at him. Naruto stands still, silent.

Kiba shakes his head and walks away.

“It’s too early for this,” Kiba mutters to himself.

Naurto raises an eyebrow and follows after him. Kiba shoves his hands deep in his pockets as he walks, shaking his head again.

“You don’t believe me?” Naruto asks, smiling.

“I said it’s too early for this,” Kiba retorts. “It’s a Saturday morning. I’m walking home, and then I’m going to get the extra four hours of sleep your _friend_ interrupted, and we can discuss this when I’m actually awake.”

Naruto’s grin widens and he puts his hands behind his head, elbows up. “Suit yourself.”

Kiba stops again and turns around suddenly.

“Can I— Can I just ask?” he says, frowning. “Why?”

Naruto blinks, unsmiling. Then he drops his hands into his pockets and walks past his friend, shoulders squared.

“It was the only way I could survive.”

Naruto keeps walking, leaving Kiba to catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your support thus far! The next chapter will be the last, so enjoy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, we're done here. I hope you enjoyed the ride, folks!

Naruto finishes his degree quickly. He throws a goodbye party in his and Kiba’s half-packed apartment, wakes up on the couch half-dressed with an empty bottle of beer and Sai, Ino’s friend, splayed across his chest. Ino and Sakura are passed out at the other end, and Kiba’s snoring on the floor.

Naruto disentangles himself gently. He smiles at his friends, those who remained, and pads silently to his room.

All he really needs is a single duffel bag and a comfortable outfit. His plane leaves at eleven, and a glance at his phone shows him it’s only eight.

He washes his face, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, and throws the last few items he needs to pack in his bag. He takes the gun out of his dresser and inspects it. He smiles, old nostalgia and bittersweet memories coming back to him as he checks the clip and ensures the safety’s on.

He won’t need this anymore.

Naruto leaves it on his stripped twin bed with a smile and straightens a baseball cap on his head. He pulls on a pair of sneakers and leaves his room, casting one last look at his friends before he goes.

“Thanks for everything, dattebayo.”

~+~+~+~

Naruto’s flight is long and tiring. His plane lands just outside of Tokyo, he shows his (new, official) passport to the customs official, gets a new phone, and boards the train. He watches the scenery pass as the sun rises, a crumpled box of cigarettes in his pocket. Cities and rice fields pass one after another, endless and idyllic. He watches them, listening as a woman’s electronic voice comes over the loudspeaker to announce stations and stops. He watches the train filter through and smiles, holding his bag close to his chest.

Finally, the voice announces his stop and he steps off onto an open platform in the countryside.

Naruto looks at the coordinates again, then at their location on his phone, and sets off down the road with a sigh.

He reaches a traditional old house with high walls as the sun truly begins to bake the earth. A metal smart doorbell rests on the wall beside the gate, and Naruto presses the button.

“Sasuke?!” he yells into the speaker. “Open up, teme! It’s me.”

“Who?” Sasuke’s smooth, low voice returns.

Naruto scowls. “Listen here, teme!”

“Alright, alright,” Sasuke replies as the gate unlocks. There’s a smile in his tone. “Come on in, dobe.”

Naruto turns as the gate swings open. He steps through and it rumbles closed behind him as he approaches the house.

Of course the bastard lives in a mansion.

It’s a traditional-style home, with a raised walkway around the outside and sliding rice paper doors. On the walkway with his arms crossed and a smirk on his lips stands Sasuke, the doors drawn open behind him.

“Hey, asshole,” Naruto calls with a grin. “Good to see you holding up well, dattebayo.”

“Clearly the FBI didn’t give you the punishment you deserve,” Sasuke replies in English.

Naruto quirks an eyebrow at the language change, but takes it in stride.

“Hard to convict someone without any evidence,” he retorts. “Especially when they’re your only informant on a certain case.” He sets his bag down on the walkway and looks up at his comrade, his host, his friend. “What have you been up to lately?”

Before Sasuke has a chance to answer, a woman comes running to throw her arms around his shoulders.

“Sasuke-chan!” she crows, batting her eyelashes at him. She shoots Naruto a glare and her voice drops to a flat note when she asks, “Who’s this?”

Naruto bristles. Sasuke brushes her off him with a slow blink and gestures toward her, still looking at Naruto.

“Naruto, this is my friend from college,” Sasuke introduces in Japanese. “She used to be an associate of Orochimaru’s, along with my other friends. Her name is Karin Uzumaki.”

Naruto’s eyes widen. Sasuke raises an eyebrow, and Naruto looks at her. She narrows her eyes.

“How do you know Sasuke-kun?” she questions, sharp. “Who are you?”

Naruto raises his eyebrows. A grin slowly spreads across his face, and he watches her eyes fly open realization. The scars on his face, the sharp, almost-feral grin. An associate of Sasuke’s, welcomed to the private Uchiha estate.

“My name is Naruto,” he says, measured. “A long time ago, I was known as the Demon Fox.”

~+~+~+~

Sasuke is almost surprised how well both of them take it. Once Naruto explains who he is, Karin’s attitude shifts. She straightens up, pushes her glasses up, and starts to act professional for once.

She worked for Orochimaru as a prostitute in Beijing. Sasuke met her shortly after Naruto caught his flight to the United States. In turn, she introduced him to her friends in Japan, Suigetsu and Juugo, who became Sasuke’s confidants.

He freed Karin, brought her back to Japan, and asked her to stay in his childhood home. Juugo and Suigetsu became his friends in Tokyo.

After he traced his brother, he used Orochimaru to set a trap. Sasuke dispatched the head of the snake, and waited for the crow to come for the feast; then he snuck up on his brother, who told him the true story of their parents death before he allowed Sasuke to cut off his head.

Then Sasuke disappeared.

It’s been over six months since then. His life in the mountains has been quiet. Some of the villagers recognize him, but they know better than to go sniffing around. Karin and Juugo make sure of that.

Suigetsu lives in Osaka now, but Karin and Juugo live with him. When Sasuke told them of an old friend who saved his life more than once, Juugo’s first reaction was surprise at the idea of Sasuke having old friends. Karin’s was one of jealousy.

Now, Karin is telling Naruto about his mother, Kushina, and Naruto is listening with rapt attention. Sasuke watches them from the kitchen, leaning back on the counter with his arms crossed.

“So, he’s your old friend?”

Sasuke turns to find his bodyguard/friend, Juugo, standing behind him. Sasuke looks back at Naruto, with his soft blond hair and serious frown, his lips pursed in what some might consider a pout.

Sasuke smiles.

“Something like that.”

He stares at Naruto a little longer. Eventually, the dobe notices and flashes Sasuke a brilliant grin. Sasuke bows his head with a smile, and Naruto goes back to his conversation with Karin.

Sasuke finally notices Juugo watching him and looks up at him with wary, narrow eyes.

“What?”

Juugo smiles and shakes his head.

“Nothing,” he replies. “Nothing at all.”

Sasuke hums. Juugo turns away with a comment about starting dinner, and walks toward the fridge. Sasuke watches him for a moment longer before he turns away, and returns his attention to Naruto and Karin instead.

They’re talking about some TV show now, so Sasuke decides to intervene. He crosses the room, taps Naruto on the shoulder, and leans down to murmur in his ear.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

Naruto beams at him and agrees to it. Sasuke walks to the door, where he slips on his shoes and waits for Naruto to catch up.

As he watches Naruto tie his sneakers, Sasuke comments, “We should head into town to get you a new pair of shoes.”

“These are just fine, dattebayo,” Naruto retorts, springing to his feet. “Let’s go!”

He bounds through the door with a grin. Sasuke bows his head as another smile forms on his lips, and follows Naruto without a word.

They walk down the road until they reach a pathway that leads off toward the mountains. Sasuke calls to Naruto gently, and they turn down it. The sun begins to set above them, turning the sky blue and gold. They come to a lake with a dock that goes out toward the center, and sit at the end. Sasuke leans over the edge to stare at his reflection in the water. Naruto leans back on his hands to look up at the sky, smiling.

“I didn’t expect you to come,” Sasuke admits after a moment.

Naruto’s smile widens. “I didn’t expect you to call.”

“Touché,” Sasuke replies with a smile, closing his eyes.

They lapse into comfortable silence, one staring at the sky as the other listened to the sounds of the world around them, the cicadas and the birds. It’s been a long time since that quiet night on the balcony, since either of them has felt truly at ease. It’s been a long time.

Naruto’s murmured goodbye that night has echoed in Sasuke’s mind since then. Three words made the calm sea beneath his skin roil, and he kissed him because he couldn’t say it back, not yet, and he hoped the meaning came through anyway.

It’s been a long time, and he’s ready to say them now.

“Naruto.”

Naruto looks over at him with a hum, raising an eyebrow.

Sasuke looks away.

“I… I love you too.”

This time, it’s Naruto who kisses him breathless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my friend a_spoopy_bird for your feedback on this fic and my other ideas. <3


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